Photo by Madison Kirkman Emily Grade

RADIATION ONCOLOGY

Name of medical school:
Medical College of Wisconsin

Years in practice:
20

Who is your personal health care hero?
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, who was the first woman to graduate as a doctor, in 1849, despite unbelievable obstacles.

“I decided to become a doctor when...”
My childhood friend died of leukemia in grade school.

What made you choose oncology in particular?
The field allows me the closeness I love to have with my patients, combined with constant advances in technology that are exciting.

“If I weren’t a doctor, I’d be...”
An author of travel books so I could explore the world.

“When I’m not working, I like to...”
Travel, eat, dance, hug the ones I love and eat dessert daily.

Name a personal habit, vice or activity of YOURS that you would advise yourself NOT to do if you were your own doctor.
Avoid the daily consumption of dessert; instead, make it a special treat on occasion.

What’s the best thing you ever did for your own health?
I don’t procrastinate and put my own health needs on hold, which led to a quick fix of what could have been a future health problem.

If you could change one thing about the U.S. health care system, what would it be?
That every individual has a basic health insurance. I have seen too much financial devastation when illness strikes the uninsured!

What innovation, invention or new technique would you most like to see in the medical field in the next 10 years?
Prevention techniques such as genetic probes, identification of those at risk so diseases can never happen or can be minimized.

What’s the most common misconception about radiation oncology?
That it does more damage than good. The technology allows much more focused therapy today.

What celebrity doc do you most respect and why?
Dr. Susan Love, who, through her foundation, her books, [and] her “Army of Women” program, has made a big impact on breast cancer.