Savage.MD Blog

Today I had my first interview for a faculty position in heme/onc. It went well, and it’s at a program I’m pretty excited about. I am so incredibly grateful for all the opportunities that have led to this day. First was the opportunity training in the UTHealth MSTP in Houston, TX. The nine years I spent there were character changing – I had lots of fun times, but also some of the hardest times of my career – learning to be both a physician and scientist. The program set me up for success and helped me match to a really wonderful internal medicine residency at the Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland Clinic taught me how to do research in medical education and also gave me a good foundation as an internist. It introduced me to some of my first research mentors in clinical oncology. I am thankful for my transition to UCSD in La Jolla, CA in 2020. Southern California is the most beautiful place I have lived in my life, and every morning I wake up thankful for the opportunity. UCSD was a great caps...

I recently had a conference call where we were asked to write the title of our fictional autobiography. This was mine. From Small Town Texas to San Diego: The Exciting Journey of a Physician Scientist I've been very lucky so far in my career and life. I was lucky to be selected for the MD/PhD training program at the University of Texas Houston and I am very lucky to now be training as an oncologist in San Diego, CA. I would have never imagined these opportunities as a teenager growing up in my small part of East Texas!  San Diego has beautiful weather and geography. There are so many beautiful hikes here. The city is sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the mountains. Here's a picture of our heme/onc fellows at a recent hike around Lake Poway. Blue Sky Hike 01/07/2023

The month on radiation oncology was excellent.  Week 1: Dr. Tripuraneni – Learned about skin and prostate cancer treatment with radiation Week 2: Dr. Lin – Learned about gynecologic and GI cancer treatment with radiation Week 3: Dr. Chen – Learned about lung and CNS cancer treatment with radiation Week 4: Dr. MacEwan and California Protons – learned about the benefits and downsides of radiation therapy I have a much better sense now of what goes into planning radiation treatment for patients. Step 1 is a clinic evaluation to determine if the patient would benefit from radiation and to discuss the benefits and risks of treatment. Step 2 is a simulation visit where the patient comes for a CT scan that will be used by the radiation oncologist for contouring and treatment planning. Step 3 is contouring/planning and happens behind the scenes. The physician first draws in the targets based on the simulation scan. This can be fused with other imaging. Then the preliminary plan is sent to ...