Working as a breast medical oncologist at world-renowned Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Julia Brockway-Marchello, MD ’12, has returned to where her journey toward a career in medicine began. As a child she was diagnosed with cancer in one of her salivary glands. Successful surgery at MSKCC to remove the tumor, and her positive experience there and during follow-up radiation treatments in Boston inspired her to become a doctor.

“I decided early on that I wanted to take care of patients like me,” said Dr. Brockway. After completing pre-med studies and earning her undergraduate degree in community health at Brown University, Dr. Brockway’s first job out of college was as a research study assistant within the Breast Surgery Service at MSKCC, her first encounter with breast cancer which solidified her specialty of choice.

As an assistant attending physician with MSKCC’s breast medicine service, including at its newest Long Island location, the St. George’s University graduate visits with patients at all different stages of diagnosis. Some are coming in for a second opinion, some have been referred by their surgeons for chemotherapy and other treatments, while others are seeking eligibility for clinical trials.

“From the moment a person is told they have cancer, their life will never be the same,” said Dr. Brockway, 35, who adds that her own experience with cancer gives her a unique perspective when treating patients. “A critical part of my job is to ensure that my patients and their caregivers feel supported and confident, from the time of diagnosis through treatment and beyond.”

“Sometimes the answer is no treatment, and when we can no longer treat the cancer, we focus on managing symptoms,” acknowledged Dr. Brockway, who is still adjusting to the weight of responsibility felt with terminal patients. “Those are the hardest conversations, but thankfully I had strong training in palliative care during my hematology/oncology fellowship. Patients really appreciate seeing empathy, compassion, and that you’re in it with them as a doctor and as a person.”

As a breast oncologist, having strong support from colleagues and staff, remaining grounded, and having outlets to channel various emotions following difficult days is paramount.

“I feel grateful for the opportunity to do this work and to care for patients, but also to be able to go home to my family, to be able to do the things I love with the people I love,” including her husband and 2-year-old son, she said.

 

 

Learning skills to effectively and compassionately communicate with patients is a core part of fellowship training, according to Adriana K. Malone, MD, director of the Mount Sinai Hematology/Medical Oncology Fellowship Program.

“It’s a crucial aspect for oncologists in training because we use these skills each day with our patients and also throughout our careers,” Dr. Malone said.

“What I think distinguishes Julia from other trainees is how exceptionally caring and empathetic she is,” she said. “Also, it is very important for an oncologist to have strong communication skills and Julia is a skilled communicator who is really gifted at being able to build a rapport with both patients and families. Additionally, Julia is extremely hard working and always considers how to improve the patient care experience.”

But the job isn’t always so gloomy. Advances in cancer detection and treatment, including new approaches to chemotherapy and managing side effects, means that most days Dr. Brockway can tell a patient that, while he or she has cancer, it is curable. Advancements such as genomic testing for early-stage estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer to determine whether a patient would benefit from chemotherapy in addition to anti-estrogen therapy, identifying tumor mutations and tailoring a patient’s treatment, and immunotherapy for metastatic breast cancer treatment, can all help improve patient survivorship rate.

“That’s really when the job is the most rewarding—to be able to say that cancer is treatable and we’re going to get through this,” she said.

One of the most common questions she and her colleagues hear—“Am I going to lose my hair?”—can even be addressed through cold cap therapy, a process that freezes the hair follicles to prevent hair loss during chemotherapy.

In between seeing patients, studying for her board exams, and spending time with family, Dr. Brockway finds the time to give back. This spring, she ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon as part of MSKCC’s running program, Fred’s Team, where members don the iconic orange tops and participate in athletic events worldwide to raise money for cancer research. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness this month, she completed a second half marathon in her hometown of Staten Island, NY.

Dr. Brockway credits her strong medical training, including her first year of med school in the United Kingdom as part of St. George’s University of Grenada School of Medicine/Northumbria University Four and Five-Year MD Program (formerly the Keith B. Taylor Global Scholars Program), for getting her to where she is today. Following her internal medicine residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Dr. Brockway continued her studies as a hematology and oncology fellow at Mount Sinai before starting at MSKCC this past August—allowing her to come full circle.

“Coming back to work at Memorial Sloan Kettering was always a hope and a dream for me,” she said. “It’s a wonderful place to work and being here feels like being part of a family committed to a common purpose. It still doesn’t feel real.”

 

 

Published October 2019 

For Upstate Medical University neurosurgical spine specialist Michael Galgano, MD ’10, with each operation he performs comes the opportunity to drastically improve the course of a person’s life.

There was the 40-year-old woman whose adolescent scoliosis had gone untreated. Debilitating back pain prevented her from completing workdays or from playing with her young daughter. A corrective procedure returned her to normal activity level.

Then there was the 17-year-old lacrosse player who suddenly had difficulty walking. It was discovered he had an osteoblastoma that was crushing his spinal cord, slowly paralyzing him. Dr. Galgano and his team removed the tumor and reconstructed his spinal column, allowing him to return to lacrosse a few months later after a remarkable recovery.

It’s that kind of impact that the 2010 St. George’s University graduate set out to make when he entered medical school, and what excites him the most about his role at Upstate.

“I treat a population of patients with a wide array of complex spinal disorders, ranging from tumors of the spinal cord and vertebral column, to scoliosis and other deformities,” Dr. Galgano said. “I am drawn toward these types of surgeries that require a significant amount of pre-surgical planning and strategizing. Each complex case I do has its own unique spin, and requires some degree of creativity to achieve an ideal outcome. Improving the quality of life in my patients is ultimately what drives me. It is difficult to get bored with this job.”

At Upstate, located in Syracuse, NY, his responsibilities are many—assistant professor of neurosurgery, director of spinal oncology and reconstructive spinal deformity surgery, as well as the medical school neurosurgery clerkship program. Although Dr. Galgano sub-specializes in spine surgery, he also treats neuro-trauma, in addition to brain tumors.

Four days a week, Dr. Galgano rounds on his inpatients before logging six- to 10-hour sessions in the operating room on surgical procedures. As a professor, he holds weekly didactic learning sessions for which he lectures to the university’s neurosurgery residents and medical students.

“When I run into the occasional SGU student completing a sub-I at our hospital and they find out I am also an alumni, their eyes light up,” he said. “I tell them all to be proactive, and to outwork everybody they can on their rotations. At the end of the day, it boils down to being nothing short of determined to match into the field you are most passionate about, whether that is family medicine or neurosurgery.”

Dr. Galgano performs his craft and extensive research at the very location where his neurosurgery career began as a resident in 2010, weeks after graduating from SGU. He spent seven years in residency at Upstate, and even earned the Outstanding Neurosurgery Resident of the Year Award. In 2017, he went on to complete a complex and oncological spine surgery fellowship at Brown University in Providence, RI.

Dr. Galgano had always had his mind set on entering neurology, but the surgery element came into focus as a medical student when he rotated with general surgeons at Overlook Hospital in New Jersey—one of SGU’s vast network of clinical training sites. So, for his career, he combined his two passions.

“The rotation centers I went to were fabulous,” he said. “Rotating at a number of different hospitals exposes you to a wide variety of pathology. Instead being at a single institution, you see a diverse case load and patient population, and learn from physicians with different backgrounds. You grow comfortable working with a new set of instructors every few weeks. It keeps you on your A-game.”

Dr. Galgano added: “During neurosurgical training, the more surgeons you get to experience operating with, the better surgeon you become. You take a bit of knowledge from each mentor, and incorporate concepts and techniques you learned from them into your style. That’s kind of the way I look at SGU. We are taught medicine from doctors all around the world, increasing the diversity of our experience. SGU really is an all-star medical school. There is no doubt that our students graduate ready to hit the real world. SGU offers not only a medical education, but a unique and profound life experience. The end product of having received a medical education at SGU is something to be proud of.”

 

Published December 2019

Dr. Orapeleng Phuswane-Katse, SGU MD’11, who hails from Mochudi, Botswana, one day hopes to be a “game changer” in the field of public health medicine in her country.

“We don’t have a lot of doctors in Botswana so there is a lot of opportunity to impact the health system here,” Dr. Phuswane-Katse said. “I enjoy pediatric community health care and I would like to improve policies and strategy planning in child health.”

She is currently completing a residency in public health medicine at Botswana’s Ministry of Health & Wellness division, where she engages in a range of public health issues including hospital management, occupational health, district hospital management, policy and strategy formulation, and management of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Dr. Phuswane-Katse also gives lectures to undergraduate medical students at University of Botswana covering public health topics including outbreak investigations, vaccination programs available, and other health indicators.

She recently became the 2019 recipient of Best Youth in Promoting Health and Wellness in Botswana Award, awarded by the Botswana National Youth Council.

Dr. Phuswane-Katse earned her Bachelor of Science in Basic Medical Sciences from St. George’s University in 2007 and went on to garner her Doctor of Medicine from St. George’s University School of Medicine in 2011. In doing so, Dr. Phuswane-Katse completed her rotations at Stafford Hospital in the UK, where she was named a chapter member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which recognized senior medical students and residents who have demonstrated excellence, dedication, and leadership. Upon completing her medical degree, she was awarded the Gold Humanism Honor Award, which recognizes outstanding medical students who showed great compassion and dedication to the health of their community.

In 2012, she served as the SGU School of Medicine class speaker at the first-ever SGU commencement ceremony in Botswana, at which government officials, family, and friends were in attendance. She also emceed the 2016 ceremony.

Continuing on her list of accomplishments, in 2015, Dr. Phuswane-Katse was the first medical doctor from Botswana to become part of the prestigious Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (YALI), a six-week leadership program started by President Barack Obama for excelling young African leaders who have shown exemplary work in the communities they serve.

Currently, Dr. Phuswane-Katse is vice president of Botswana YALI Network, a network of the Mandela Washington Fellowship alumni, and a board member for Botswana United States Alumni Association (BUAA). She also has a Facebook Page, “Getting the Facts Right with Dr Phuswane-Katse,” which aims to educate Batswana about common medical problems and empower them to take control of their health, and mentors students through the “Afrika Ithute” initiative and other platforms.

She credits the plentiful hands-on experience at St. George’s for preparing her for her chosen field. “SGU taught me accountability, responsibility, and to be able to work hard to achieve my goals,” she said.

 

Updated October 2019 

As an internal medicine/pediatrics resident at the University at Buffalo, Sarah Ackah, MD ’17, sees inpatients and outpatients with a range of complex conditions. Cases run the full gamut and sometimes involve trauma, forcing her and her colleagues to be prepared for any situation that may arise.

Dr. Ackah has thrived during her time in upstate New York, and hopes to take the knowledge and experience she has gained there to Texas, where her fondness was medicine was born.

Like her travels, the fields for which she is enthusiastic are wide ranging.

“My medical interests include primary care, public health, and sociocultural research, and I have a passion for working with both adults and kids,” she said.

In addition to her clinical responsibilities, Dr. Ackah is involved in two major research projects related to palliative care awareness in inpatient settings and pediatric endocrinology in children with thyroid disease.

“Obesity and thyroid disease in children is a serious and growing problem in the US and beyond,” she said. “There is a child obesity clinic at my hospital and it’s a topic I studied and became interested in at SGU. I’d like to research more about the effect of obesity on thyroid function and see if there are ways of helping children and adults in non-surgical ways.”

Dr. Ackah was born in the United Kingdom and grew up in Texas. The eldest of four children, she was inspired to follow a career in medicine during a childhood visit to the emergency room for her younger sister.

“My sister needed stitches following a serious accident and the attending doctors were so kind and caring,” she said. “I was only about 8 years old, but I remember thinking I wanted to be like them one day.”

Dr. Ackah completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin. When it came to choosing a medical school, she weighed her options in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean before opting to study at St. George’s University. It proved to be the right decision.

“The whole experience at SGU was terrific,” Dr. Ackah said. “It was such an interesting and family-friendly environment. I come from a big family so this is what I wanted, and my classmates were great. SGU has a way of picking the best students.

“The resources and teaching staff at SGU were also first class. I found the schedule quite rigorous but everyone was extremely supportive. It definitely prepared me for the complexities of life as a doctor. It was the perfect, well-rounded experience.”

 

Published September 2019