Why I Chose Oncology - Dr. Kim Levinson

Even before college, Kim Levinson, MD, MPH, knew she wanted to work to prevent and treat women’s cancers.

“The disparity between who's dying of preventable cancers was striking to me, and I think that's initially what led me into both oncology and women's health,” she said.

This didn’t result in a straight path to her current role at GBMC HealthCare as the director of Johns Hopkins Gynecologic Oncology. Before medical school, she worked for a year in the breast cancer program of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Later, she took a year away from medical school to complete her master's degree in public health. Those experiences, and a rotation in surgery, brought Dr. Levinson to her current position at GBMC, where she is dedicated to her GYN oncology patients and team.

“The longevity of care we provide for patients is really unique, compared to anywhere else in medicine,” she said. “GYN oncology is one specialty in oncology where we, the oncologists, are the surgeons. We give our patients chemotherapy, and we follow them for the rest of their lives.

“We really try to emphasize that every single person here in our office and on our team has a critical role they play in the patients’ experience and in their outcomes.”