Two worlds of oncology rarely speak the same language. So I learned both — and then a third.
The gap I kept seeing
In breast cancer care, the surgeon and the radiation oncologist often work in separate rooms, with separate plans. Too often the patient is left standing between two languages that don't talk to each other. After training as a general surgeon in Nicaragua and in therapeutic endoscopy in Havana, Cuba, then completing a breast surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Miami, I couldn't unsee that gap.
So I'm becoming the bridge
I'm now a radiation oncology resident at Maimonides — on track to be the first physician in the U.S. trained to both operate on and irradiate breast cancer. Not to be two doctors, but to be the translator that was missing: one mind that holds the whole arc of a patient's care.
The next frontier: Interventional Radiation Oncology
But the gap extends far beyond breast cancer. I see brachytherapy evolving into something bigger — Interventional Radiation Oncology — using surgical skills to access deep sites and deliver highly conformal radiation therapy where external beams alone cannot reach. It means bringing the precision of the operating room into radiation delivery, and managing the complications that come with it. That’s the unmet gap I’m training to fill.
Three beams, one oncologist
Theranostics is where external beam, interventional, and systemic radionuclide therapies converge. This hybrid approach is the future of oncology, and I am driven to become a clinician who can orchestrate these modalities in unison. My goal is not a title, but to ensure that my patients receive a holistic, comprehensive treatment plan that leverages every available clinical advancement to improve their outcomes
And I stay human about it
I write to make oncology understandable, mentor those coming behind me, and train my body with the same discipline I bring to a manuscript at midnight. The credential is rare; I'd rather it feel reachable. The discipline I prescribe, I practice.