Q&A: Thomas Anderson, D.O. (’83), F.A.C.R.O.

Radiation oncology

 When did you switch from your original path, primary care, to radiation oncology?

 In my third and fourth years, I became intrigued by internal medicine and radiology. I was fearful of becoming a diagnostic radiologist—that I wouldn’t have patient contact—so I chose radiation oncology. Meanwhile, during our residencies we could moonlight, so I did practice family medicine in the old days, every Saturday.

 What do you like the most about radiation oncology?

You become very much a part of the (patient’s) family. It brings in the entire family because it’s a life-changing event. I do hospice, too, and that’s along the same line.

 And what’s the most challenging part?

When you know someone—especially a young patient—has an advanced terminal disease. You have to be honest but not take away hope. There are days when you do want to bang your head against the wall, but you find mechanisms to help patients and families—and yourself—cope. As a physician, I think that’s a maturing process.

 What do you think we could be doing as a medical school to prepare medical students to deal with death?

 I think we need to address hospice in the medical curriculum: when enough is enough, delivering bad news, coping with loss. We’re always taught as physicians that we’re going to make things better, but we’re all human: we were all born, and we’re all going to die. It’s really about compassion—and good communication.

In a word, how would you describe the current generation of med students?

Unbelievable. The benchmark just keeps getting higher. It’s a whole different learning world. They sit there with their laptops, typing away. It amazed me two years ago when a student emailed me with a question about a Power Point slide before their lecture—I guess they get their slides ahead of time—and they were already generating questions before the lecture. We see that in Columbus, too. It’s hard for us old guys to keep up with them and their little palm pilots. All we had was a note service and IBM typewriters (laughs).