Oncologist Essay

Oncologists face one of the most mentally and emotionally challenging positions that a health care professional can choose to enter; the role of an oncologist, however, can be extremely rewarding because of his/her ability to diagnose health problems, perform life saving surgeries, and see patients improve and hopefully be cured of cancer.

Dealing with a terminal disease such, as cancer not only affects the patient and the family of the patient, it also affects the doctor that aids them. In order to cure this disease someone has to be brave enough to endure long nights without sleep and put one’s personal problems aside to replace them with someone else’s. The doctor that provides this assistance is an oncologist. They stick by the patient’s side and help contribute to the improvement of their health. Not only do they enhance the health of others, they also serve as their personal cheerleader that encourages them during rough times.

Cancer starts with a mutation of a cell that causes a change in the growth and division; this shows that even the smallest thing can be fatal ("What Is Cancer?"). Cancer is a possibly fatal disease that can affect people both physically and emotionally. And every year it takes the lives of millions of people. The amount of people with cancer is growing ("Cancer Facts and Statistics"). According to Jacque Wilson “The increasing cancer patients are outnumbering the number of physicians in addition financial problems will result in trouble with cancer care in the United States” (“Report: Cancer will be No. 1 killer in U.S.”). “By 2030, the global burden is expected to grow to 21.4 million new cancer cases and 13.2 million cancer deaths simply due to the growth and aging of the population, as wel...

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... supervise the patient’s radiation therapy treatments. These physicians coincide with other members of the radiation therapy team to develop the patient’s treatment plan and to ensure that each treatment is given safely and correctly ("Treatment Team."). They also monitor the patient’s progress and change the treatment if necessary to make sure the radiation is doing its job at minimizing side effects. Before, during, and after one’s therapy treatments, radiation oncologists work with other cancer doctors to increase the radiation’s productiveness ("Treatment Team."). Radio oncologists are the only physicians with the competence and teaching to prescribe and give radiation therapy treatments. They receive extensive training in cancer medicine, in managing side effects caused by radiation, and in the secure use of radiation to treat diseases ("Treatment Team.").