Ami Patel-Yadav, M.D., DABR, radiation oncologist, is now seeing patients at Texas Oncology–Bedford and Grapevine. Read how she found her calling in radiation oncology.
What inspired you to work in cancer care?
The field of oncology is something I have been in awe of since childhood, as one of my life’s most impactful events was my mother’s breast cancer diagnosis when I was nine years old. I didn’t understand the details at the time, but I did understand the resounding sense of fear that I could see not only in her eyes, but also my father’s. Watching her struggle through surgery and chemotherapy is something I still carry with me and think back to with every new patient and family I meet.
Watching [my mother] struggle through surgery and chemotherapy is something I still carry with me and think back to with every new patient and family I meet."
Did you always know you wanted to be a doctor, specifically studying radiation oncology?
It was a conversation with my brother that led me to take a chance and pursue radiation oncology. He simply said, “Ami, trust me, these are your people.” And he was absolutely right. I knew I found my calling the very first week of my radiation oncology training.
Do you have any family members in the medical field?
My brother is a neurosurgeon at Arlington Memorial Hospital in Arlington, Texas, which is one of the many the reasons I am excited to be working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We have not lived in the same city for nearly 20 years, and now we get to see each other every weekend and raise our kids together.
What do you think the future of cancer treatment will look like?
I believe the future of cancer treatment lies in the growing ability to tailor treatments for patients based on their specific tumor profiles. I also think the future holds opportunities for targeting cancer cells by combining novel immunotherapies with multimodality treatments.
What are you regularly tuning into right now?
Right now, I am reading Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land.” I have always found the most inspiration in reading memoirs.