Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Allow me to introduce myself...

As this is my first entry of the blog, I figure it would be a good idea to introduce myself. My name is Yale Podnos and I am Director of Surgical Oncology at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. To date, I am the only fellowship trained Surgical Oncologist in Raleigh.

I am originally from Los Angeles, but have been in Raleigh about 4 1/2 years. I went to medical school and did my General Surgery training at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center. UCI was a great place for me to train due to a large number of excellent, innovative surgeons who became mentors to me. I particularly became interested in Surgical Oncology as I saw how the surgeons helped patients through extremely trying times. Despite the stereotype of surgeons not forging relationships with their patients, these folks were different and I knew I wanted to be like them.

During medical school, I took a year off to get a Masters degree in Health Care Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. I particularly became interested in how health care was delivered, how medical decisions were made, and how they could be made more efficient. Evidence based medicine, as it came to be known as, has transformed patient care by focusing our decision-making on reproducible, scientific results from controlled clinical trials.

After residency, I spent 2 years at City of Hope National Medical Center in Southern California as a Surgical Oncology Fellow. There I operated with many technically fantastic surgeons and saw how new, minimally invasive and laparoscopic techniques can be used in oncology surgery. However, what most influenced how I treat my patients was my time spent researching the ability of surgery to palliate advanced cancers. This was interesting research, but I worked with a team of nurses whose level of dedication to the patient and commitment to alleviate the suffering of others was something I wanted to emulate.

I am often asked why I chose Surgical Oncology. True, I don’t always get to deliver the happiest news, but when I do, it’s the best feeling I have ever known. The technical challenges are great and the ability to use the latest technologies makes the operations constantly evolving. Most importantly, though, is the honor I feel knowing someone has chosen me to help them and their families get through the life-changing episode of a cancer diagnosis. My discussions change with each individual patient, but my advice is always the same. Live your life.

So now you know a little about me and how I got here. I will continue to update this site as new techniques, thoughts, revelations, etc about patient care and cancer in general arise. We’ll talk soon.