Dr . Kelly McMasters EPHRAIM MCDOWELL PHYSICIAN OF THE YEAR
As a surgical oncologist , Dr . Kelly McMasters aims toward the future – not only removing cancer from patients so they can move forward with their lives , but also overseeing the training of the next generation of surgeons , and initiating and guiding research to transform cancer treatment in decades to come . Yet as Chair of the Hiram C . Polk , Jr ., MD , Department of Surgery at the University of Louisville , McMasters is also deeply respectful of the past – the long and distinguished history of the department that dates from its founding in 1837 - and is sober about his personal responsibility to ensure its legacy .
Dr . McMasters took a multifaceted approach to medicine from the beginning of his career , graduating from medical school at Rutgers University with combined MD and PhD degrees . As a surgical resident at U of L , the New Jersey native enjoyed the challenge of caring for patients with difficult types of cancer , and appreciated the deep satisfaction of extending and saving their lives .
Following residency , Dr . McMasters left Louisville for a fellowship in surgical oncology at the University of Texas-M . D . Anderson Cancer Center in Houston , and he returned to U of L as an assistant professor , where former chair , Dr . Hiram C . Polk , Jr . and vice chair , Dr . J . David Richardson , also current president of the American College of Surgeons , were his mentors . “ I learned from them that to be a good surgeon you need to be a good doctor ,” he says . “ If you operated on somebody , it was a sacred responsibility to take care of that patient for the rest of your life , a sacred trust .”
Dr . Richardson says that with his embrace of the surgical , research , academic and administrative realms , Dr . McMasters has emerged not only as a leader at U of L , but also among surgeons nationally . For example , he is secretary – and likely future president – of the Southern Surgical Association . Describing his colleague as “ fair and unselfish , quiet but confident ,” Dr . Richardson ’ s confidence in McMasters was such that some years ago he entrusted him with difficult cancer surgery on his own father .
Dr . McMasters says the road to success is paved with less brilliance than hard work , and finds his own role as mentor to future surgeons tremendously rewarding . He views his own path as “ a lifelong educational event ” that began when his formal training ended . Dr . Polk says of McMasters , “ Somewhere he got a purpose in his life that ’ s pretty uncommon .”
That purpose shifted profoundly for Dr . McMasters earlier this year when he and his wife , Beth , lost the youngest of their three sons to leukemia . Owen McMasters was just 16 , a student at Trinity High School , described by his parents as brilliant with a sly wit and a love for video games , snowboarding , tennis and basketball , and famously a knack for beating surgical housestaff at poker . In the eulogy he delivered for his son , Dr . McMasters said , “ I ’ ve learned that there is a huge difference between being a doctor and being a caregiver . I studied for many years to learn the former , yet knew nothing about the latter .”
Over the more than four years of Owen ’ s treatment , Dr . McMasters says he and Beth , a Louisville attorney and former nurse , spent many nights sleeping in their son ’ s pediatric hospital room , attending to his needs simply as parents . That ’ s where the lessons of Drs . Polk and Richardson came into clearer focus , he said , “ Always putting patients first . Sometimes they just need one person to be a real doctor ,” he reflects . “ One of the lessons I learned is to be that doctor .”
Now in addition to his other endeavors at U of L , Dr . McMasters has worked with U of L to establish the Owen ’ s Wish Foundation of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center , with the goal to build a world-class program in cancer immunotherapy to honor Owen ’ s memory . McMasters believes that immunotherapy will revolutionize cancer care and eliminate the need for most types of chemotherapy in our lifetime . One clinical trial is already in progress , and McMasters anticipates a clinical trial for children with leukemia within a year , drawing on inspiration from the past to reach for the future .
2016 DOCTORS ’ BALL PHYSICIAN HONOREES
OCTOBER 2016 25