Ronald Chen, Professor and Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology at University of Kansas Medical Center, shared on LinkedIn:
“I will never give up patient care. It’s my ‘why’ for becoming a physician.
As people become leaders in healthcare, there are many different routes we can take. There’s research, teaching, administration, department management, and other opportunities.
When taking on these roles, many start pulling back on their patient care out of necessity – there’s limited hours in a day, and one cannot choose to do everything.
Some leave patient care entirely. But that’s not the path I have chosen.
As a department chair and a leader in our cancer center, a lot of my time is needed for administrative duties and meetings, and I love being able to drive change and help build a great department and cancer center that leads the nation in patient care, research, and education.
But fundamentally, my biggest personal driver is patient care.
I was inspired to become a physician from taking care of hospice patients in college, and this is my ‘why.’ I have a busy clinical practice and plan to continue seeing patients.
I truly love patient care. I love interacting with patients and their families. At the end of every clinic day, I know that I’ve made an impact. It’s the fire that drives me to do what I do.
And I will never give it up.”
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