After a Career Day medicine panel, I met Dr. Ari Marciscano (‘03), a radiation oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) specializing in genitourinary cancers like the prostate, bladder, and kidney. He was so kind to agree for me to shadow him at his clinic in New York, and so my dream ISP took shape (I hope to become an oncologist in the future).
After taking Honors Biology II, an in-depth study of cancer, I became interested in biology. Over the next few summers, I studied leukemia and breast cancer in lab. While I enjoyed working on the lab bench, I was eager to get a glimpse into the clinical side of medicine.
Over the next few months leading up to ISP, I was incredibly grateful that Dr. Marciscano worked hard to make sure I could smoothly transition to shadowing him at MSK. On my end, I completed online training and many health forms.
Come May, I worked with Dr. Marciscano on treatment planning days and clinic days.
First, on clinic days, we had consults (new diagnosis) and status checks. Each meeting was always a conversation, and Dr. Marciscano prioritized reassuring the patient and his family while answering any bubbling questions. It was great that patients were very open to me sitting in on their meetings. After several consults, I learned quite a bit about prostate cancer and metastatic disease. I soon observed that medicine is a team effort: surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and more work together to offer patients the best care possible at MSK.
Second, I learned how radiotherapy treatment planning works, from contouring (or coloring in) where the patient receives radiation to approving doses to viewing images during image guided radiation therapy (IGRT). I was even able to create my own plan, contouring glands and picking up a little anatomy in the process.
Third, through Dr. Marciscano’s mini-lectures and a Grand Rounds talk given by one of the leaders in the field, Dr. Sandra Demaria, I got a taste for how radiation therapy is rapidly changing: Memorial and others are exploring the efficacy of radiation and immunotherapy drug combinations.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this ISP. I could piece together each day and create a composite and representative “day in the life of a radiation oncologist.” Medicine is not the picture we often paint it to be – doctors golfing on vacation in the islands – Dr. Marciscano was always super busy. Thus, it was valuable for me to shadow just one doctor over a few weeks rather than a collection of doctors. That way, I could see all the different aspects of medicine – from replying to emails on the fly to meeting with an add-on patient. My deliverable captured this experience very well; I could process the day’s work by writing it all out in a blog.
Ultimately, this ISP was an eye-opening experience: I now understand that radiation is a billion times more complicated than I had once thought it to be – a zap of cancer cells – and that pursuing medicine truly takes a deep love for your work.
My advice to future seniors: take initiative and find an ISP that you will remember for years and years after – I know that my ISP has deeply resonated with me. Don’t throw away this rare opportunity of when you don’t have ‘school.’ Take this time to explore something new or immerse yourself in something that you already love. Either way, do it with purpose and passion.
Just STEM thoughts 