The Oncology Team is Growing

Maryland’s largest comprehensive community cancer program is growing. In recent months, two more oncologists have joined the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Cancer Institute, drawn by GBMC’s reputation for excellent clinical care that puts patients first. Dr. David Gottlieb has joined the medical oncology staff and Dr. Rebecca M. Dodson is the newest surgeon in the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Comprehensive Breast Care Center. 

Dr. Gottlieb specializes in hematology, and he began seeing patients of the Berman Cancer Institute in September. 

“GBMC is the place for oncology,” he said. "The program has a reputation for quality, not just for patient outcomes and clinical trials, but overall patient care.” 

He also appreciates the organization’s track record for keeping oncologists on board and the "range of career depth." Among his new colleagues, some new to the field, as he is, and others have been treating patients for years. Beyond what he can learn from established oncologists, it’s good to know others have spent their careers at the Berman Cancer Institute. 

As confident as Dr. Gottlieb is that he has “found his people” here, he wasn’t always certain he would dedicate his career to cancer. His first step into the field was tentative and one he took to face his fears of working with patients with such a daunting diagnosis. When, as a third-year medical student, he worked in a small oncology practice in Saratoga Springs, he was surprised to find the work “uplifting, hopeful." 

"The relationship with patients is different,” he said. “We’re on the same team, fighting a common enemy. I tell my patients, ‘You’re the captain of your own ship,’” likening his own role to that of a navigator, presenting patients with treatment options and discussing their goals. 

For Dr. Gottlieb, medical oncology offers both the rewards of patient care and the challenges of rapidly evolving science. Treatment options that have reduced side effects and a better range of supportive care are turning some cancer cases into something akin to chronic disease. At the Berman Cancer Institute, he has found a professional home that provides challenge and reward. 

Dr. Dodson has been a surgical oncologist elsewhere in the region. Having worked with the director of the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Comprehensive Breast Care Center, Sara P. Fogarty, DO, FACS, before, Dr. Dodson knew when she arrived in January that she was joining a successful practice. 

“I think this team is very strong,” she said. The design of the Center was also appealing. 

“It’s nice to have radiology support, same-day ultrasound and mammogram,” she added. “Just walking down the hall, getting to talk to the radiologist right away, is amazing.” 

Before she was aware of the position opening at GBMC, she referred a patient with a mass in the breast to GBMC because the treatment he needed would begin within days, rather than weeks. Now she’s in a position to deliver that care herself. 

Dr. Dodson began her career planning to work in medical research. She found she wasn’t happy working in a lab, so during the year between college and medical school, she volunteered at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland. It inspired her to pursue surgery. 

“I realized I could handle other people’s blood,” she laughed, “just not my own.” 

Since then, she has seen cancer care from just about every perspective. Halfway through her first year of medical school, she was treated for a tumor. 

“That’s why I decided to do oncology and surgery,” she said. She missed one final exam, recovered during the break and was back in the classroom for her second semester. 

Her turn as a patient caregiver came when Dr. Dodson’s mother was treated for Crohn’s disease at GBMC. The surgical and recovery care she received was everything they hoped for. 

Dr. Dodson doesn’t necessarily tell her patients or their families she has been through these experiences, recognizing a cancer diagnosis—and the response to it—is highly individual. 

“I understand that you’re like a normal person one day and they next, you’re like, ‘Oh my God! My body is plotting against itself.’” If she thinks it can help her patient, she’ll let them know. 

Like her new colleagues, Dr. Dodson is guided by science and what’s best for her patients.