Dr. Tara Mitchell (Gangadhar), M.D.

Specialty: Hematology, Oncology

About Dr. Mitchell

More about Hematology

"Hematology is the study of blood and blood disorders. These include blood and bone marrow cells. Hematological tests can help diagnose anemia, infection, hemophilia, blood-clotting disorders, and leukemia. The hematologist generally focuses on direct patient care and diagnosing and managing hematologic diseases, especially cancers."

More about Oncology

"A branch of medicine that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. It includes medical oncology (the use of chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and other drugs to treat cancer), radiation oncology (the use of radiation therapy to treat cancer), and surgical oncology (the use of surgery and other procedures to treat cancer)."

Q&A:

Q: What experiences in your personal and professional life inspired your career in the medical fields?

A: It's been a long time now. So I have to think back, but I think really just a spirit of volunteerism and community service, I had always been involved in that as a high schooler, and then kind of took it to the next level in college, where most of my college activities revolved around leadership positions in community service, and trying to give back to my community trying to make it better in terms of helping with after school programs, and tutoring and clean up programs. And I enjoyed that aspect of volunteerism, and trying to make things better by helping others. And that kind of combined with like, my academic kind of work and being strong in the sciences paired nicely to think of medicine as a career for me.

Q: What sort of challenges did you face as a woman pursuing a career in the medical field?

A: I don't necessarily think there were any challenges early on, you just, you know, I had to work hard, and do my best in high school, and then in college, to get, you know, strong grades and a good application together for medical school. I think that that with hard work and you know, a balanced set of experiences in college and you know, having developed relationships with some mentors through some of my projects and leadership roles, I was able to get together the application and the, you know, the recommendations. And so I think in medical school, itself, the challenge was kind of it was an adjustment, it was a lot harder than getting an A in, you know, high school or college, you really had to learn a lot of material and be organized about how to organize your time between socializing and personal goals and activities, and studying and really making sure you knew the material because this was something you needed for the rest of your life for to be able to take good care of patients who really needed these fundamentals. So I think it was a different level of studying and preparation. But it really everything just fell into place if you knew that you enjoyed the material. And if you felt that, that learning the material was a piece of you know, your future and a career and if you envisioned it that way. It didn't seem like a difficult challenge. It seemed more like a challenge. That was a fun one to me too. And that more of like a personal challenge to rise the next level and you're the next phase of your life and your career. And so it wasn't the same sense of a challenge where someone else is setting a goal or an expectation for you because you've really set that goal for yourself in the already the pathway of pursuing medicine going into medical school. And then through all the levels of training that you do after medical school, you know, you just even get closer to that goal of being an independent care provider. So that just kind of reinforces and strengthens that personal challenge. So that kind of provides a lot of positive motivation to learn the material. And you know, to learn from every patient, you take care of a lesson of how to provide care and how to be an excellent physician. So I think it's, you know, you could call it a challenge, but it's more of like, a personal goal, and something that motivates you that you're thinking about the big picture of your career that you're working towards, that makes it feel like a very positive type of challenge.

Q: What advice would you give to young girls who are interested in pursuing a career in the medical field?

A: I think that doing what you're doing right now is really important. So talking to people that are physicians in different stages, how did they feel getting through medical school, and then the training and in terms of residency and even fellowship or specialty practice. There certainly are ups and downs where there are hard times with the schedule, and there are easy times and, you know, I really never questioned my career and path once I chose it. I always felt motivated, and it always felt like a joy. And I felt very grateful to be have, you know, the opportunities that I had to advance in my career in medicine. And I feel like that people who are interested in medicine should always be asking themselves those questions: Do you feel joy and grateful that you're doing the work that you're doing? Do you feel like you're enjoying every day of the process? Or do you feel like you're it's a struggle, and you're just waiting till you can get past this next hurdle. Because there's a lot of steps to pass through. But I would never think of it as like, just getting to the next step, or just finishing school or training to be a doctor, because it's all part of who you are the process the training, and you have to enjoy that part, too. You can't just kind of fast forward to the part where you're a doctor, and you're done with all of it. So if you ever feel that feeling, then it might not be the right path for you. I feel like enjoying the learning and the process is always going to be apart of medicine.

Q: Given the inherent challenges and trust involved with medical school and residency and fellowship, how do you how did you manage to cope with the ups and downs of your career path?

A: I think I just always focused on, you know, you can only do one thing at a time and you you should try to do your best. So I think you have to be organized when you have a lot of tasks to do to just say, Well, what can I do right now. And you know, how am I going to dedicate this day, and to not try to get overburdened to the point where you're paralyzed, and you think I don't know what to do next. So just start doing one thing at a time, try to keep positive energy that you're in this school, or you're in this program, because you deserve to be here and you earn this spot, and you are perfectly capable of doing the work, you just need to, you know, focus and finish one task at a time. I think that it's important to be honest with yourself, if you're feeling stress, or anxiety to turn to friends and family to talk honestly about your feelings. Because that can be very destructive to a person in any phase, you know, if you're feeling stress or anxiety, to keep it inside and not to be able to talk about it with a friend or family or even if need be some, you know, a therapist who could help guide you through how you're feeling and how you can cope with it. I think friends and family are very important. But to ask yourself: why am I feeling this stress? And can I break it down into components? Is it tasks that I need to accomplish? Or is it a bigger picture anxiety about having chosen the right path or the right program? And then to try to stop and think what are the things that are positive about where you are that day or that year, and to really focus on the things that you're thankful for? both in and outside of medicine. So when you're feeling stressed in one part of your life, you can always say, you know, what do I have to be thankful for today, my family, my health, you know, the fact that I got into this wonderful program and just use those reflections of gratitude to give yourself strength and to take a deep breath and then just say, Well, now that I've reminded myself, you know why I can do anything? Let me just take get deep breath and accomplish one task at a time and just continuously reminding yourself that there are a lot of positive features to yourself into what you're working on and, and, and outside of medicine too, that helps give you strength for the things that are challenging in medicine. Yeah. That's how, for me, that's how I've always coped with things, just reminding myself, you know, all of the positives and things that I'm thankful for, has made it so that there has been minimal stress. But in those periods where it was important to think it through and to talk with friends and family, and to have that support network. You can't always think of the future you have to enjoy each day and be like, This is my life right now, this program or this training. It's not like I'm waiting to get to the next step. I'm enjoying this process today.

Q: Who are your role models or, or mentors?

A: So once you get to later stages in your career in medicine, and your training, mentorship, and sponsorship is a really important part of how you develop your career. So, you know, I had people in my training that were very supportive and gave me opportunities early on to do research projects, write those into manuscripts that turned into publications and medical journals. And so those people, you know, really looked out for my career early on in my training. And it's, you know, I think it's important to look for people when you're in your training in medicine, that you identify with, and that you admire, and work with those people and look for opportunities. So someone who's very senior in their career, can afford to hand out opportunities, they don't need to do every project for themselves, because they've already accomplished a great career. And so if someone who's motivated and intelligent and bright comes to them wanting to do a research project, they can say, yes, I've got this great idea. And I've got a bunch of data that just needs someone to put it together into a paper. And then if you're eager and motivated, and you know, responsible to put that down on paper and get that publication, then that person can really be an advocate for you when it comes time to look for your job, and your next level of training. And so I had wonderful mentors in my oncology training, where I was at the University of Chicago, and currently at the University of Pennsylvania, where I'm a faculty member, when I first joined the faculty. 10 years ago, there were people who were much senior to me, who looked out for me and gave me opportunities to publish papers, author book chapters, speak at national meetings, lead national clinical trials, and you know, you get these first opportunities, and then you build a reputation for yourself, and then you continue to get opportunities for yourself. So I think looking for mentors at every stage of your career that you can identify with, and that you can ask, Hey, do you have a project that I can work on with you I'm motivated, I'm bright, I know I can handle this work is a really important part of medicine. And especially choosing an academic path, like I chose, I mean, being at a, you know, academic institution and a school of medicine where I teach medical students and residents and fellows, I think that that pathway of mentorship especially is really important in that pathway of research. oriented medicine. I think when you're in high school and college, some of it is assigned to you and some of it you start to seek out. And I think the further you get in your career, the more it's your responsibility. So you know, it's not like someone's gonna assign you a mentor and give you opportunities but to always be looking out for you know, any professor that you you know, have a class with, is this someone that you really are inspired by, could you meet with them after class to talk about research opportunities, because you really like what they're working on or you've read their papers, and they're really interesting on the academic track, and then on the other side of medicine, that private practice and more just patient care oriented without the research aspect, there's still mentorship in like, how do people organize their practice? How do they, you know, build their reputation and their clinical excellence? And, you know, there's a lot to be learned with clinical mentorship also across different fields of medicine.

Q: What would you be if you weren't a doctor?

A: When I was in high school or college, I would have said, broadcast journalism, I would have loved to report the news, and get the stories and bring them to the people. Now, I would probably say a chef, I would open a restaurant, and I really enjoy cooking and creating in the kitchen and love, I would love to bring that together in a restaurant.

Q: How did you decide your specialty?

A: So really early on in medical school, I was very interested in the genetics of cancer and how different genetic mutations can lead to cancer and how those can also be targeted to treat cancer. So the physiology and the biology behind it was very interesting to me in the book testing part of medical school. And so very early on, I paired up with some of the oncologist at medical school where I was at NYU, and I went with them on rotations, where I saw patients with advanced cancer, I saw how they talked to patients. And I really enjoyed the opportunity that oncology gives doctors to serve as a link between, it's not just the patient and the doctor, families are really involved too, because there could be a loved one who's, you know, dying, potentially coming to their life from cancer. And the doctor really has to help be a liaison between the patient, the family and the illness so that the patient and the family, understand the illness, understand the options, and understand you know, what the goals and the plan of care are, and whether there's a cure inside or not. I also really wanted to help provide quality end of life care, because there's a lot of cancers that we still can't cure, but we can treat patients and help them live longer. And at some point, they may come to the end of their life, but having dignity and quality of life and the family understand and accept, I think is a big part of why I wanted to go into it. On top of the research side of drugs, you know, a lot of my research is in drug development. So learning about new drugs and trying new clinical trials of new drugs in patients with advanced cancer. So both the opportunity to make a difference in cures, but also in patients and families, it all connected for me and was very clear early on for me that that's what I wanted to do.

Q: What advice and suggestions would you give in terms of learning experience for learning experiences for young girls interested in exploring the medical field and like the different areas as you discovered Oncology?

A: I would say to just pair up with someone you know, if you can, even in high school, through your friends or family or teachers find a way to shadow a physician, or a nurse or a physician, a PA or an NP in clinic, you can get that experience of what it feels like to just be in a practice setting, meeting with patients making a plan of care, and kind of get the sense of what a day feels like. I think that would be the most practical experience. And then just talking to people and asking them these honest questions about did they ever regret their choice of career? What makes them you know, feel positive about their choice of career? Asking them those very black and white questions where you're going to get an answer and learn something different from each person?

Sources:

https://www.universitycancer.com/services/oncology/

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/hematology