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D R . D O N A L D M CC A I N Distinguished surgical oncologist Dr. Donald McCain is Chief of Surgical Oncology at the renowned John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University. Years of training at some of the most prominent cancer centers in the world, such as Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering, have honed his expertise in melanoma, colorectal cancers, and metastatic cancers. Dr. McCain discusses his journey through this process of schooling and fellowships with us, while weighing in on a wide array of topics from medical advancements to his own advice for preventative measures. Emphasizing the importance of the quality of life of each patient, Dr. McCain gives an enlightening interview about some of the intricacies of his field, and his process to ensure the highest possible care for each patient. EXCELLENCE I N C A N C E R T R E AT M E N T VUE: What did the process of going through years of training to become a surgical oncologist look like? DR. MCCAIN: Long and brutal; no shortcuts. Aer college, I did a PhD in Molecular Biophysics and then subsequently got a scholarship to medical school at Einstein. en from there, went to Mount Sinai to train for 5 years of surgery and then to Sloan Kettering for a two year fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in Surgical Oncology. Quite a long road. At the time [Sloan Kettering] was ranked number one cancer center; I think it probably remains number one. It was the highest level of training you could achieve in surgical oncology. It was the biggest giants in surgery that were the mentors because they were working there at the time. e level of training is not just the surgical skill factor, but one of the biggest lessons there was the attention to detail. So up to now and from then, you just don't operate on anyone with just seeing the patient, but you also want to look at the pathology, what aspects of the pathology that might be important that could predict what kind of treatment the patient might get, look at all the films to make sure that you would then come up with different approaches to your plan so you wouldn't just have one approach; you would have multiple options available to you. We really were very meticulous in your preparation before you even got to the OR, so you don't see patients unless you VUE ON | HEALTH 90 VUENJ.COM

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