MDNews - Long Island

Past, Present and Future A 40ŽY E A R CA REER has enhanced the enthusiasm that Philip Schulman, MD, FACP, board-certi - fied physician in internal medicine, hematology and oncology, has for advancing cancer care for patients around the world through research. "When I started practicing, basically only three or four drugs were available to treat multiple myeloma, and the approximate survival rate of patients was twoŠyears," Dr. Schulman says. "Now, the average survival is seven years or more, and that all came about because of the massive amount of research that was done with the disease." " I was missing the clinical care, patient interaction, feedback and the academic side of medicine. That's what led me to New York Cancer & Blood Specialists." PHILIP SCHULMAN, MD, FACP, BOARD•CERTIFIED PHYSICIAN IN INTERNAL MEDICINE, HEMATOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY AT NEW YORK CANCER & BLOOD SPECIALISTS T h a t l e d t o r e c r u i t m e n t o f t h e appropr iate sta f f a nd cu lm inated in t he ded icat ion of a f loor t o t he new leukemia ser vice. Dr. Schulma n wrote care g uidelines and specif ic provisions for the program, which started enrolling patient s i n nationa l st ud ies for leu- kem ia ca re w it h i n t h ree yea rs of its inception, as part of what is now known a s the CA LGB (Ca ncer a nd Leukemia Groupˆ B), wh ich i s now pa r t of t he A lliance for Clinica l Tria ls in Oncolog y. " I beca me v ice cha ir of t hat coop- erative group," Dr. Schulma n says. " We published a number of a r ticles about chromosomes a nd diag nostic criteria for va rious diseases." During Dr. Schu lma n's tenure, the Hematologic Oncolog y Center at Nor th Shore University Hospita l beca me one of the top referra l centers in the nation for acute a nd chronic leukemia . EXPANDING EXCELLENCE Dr. Schulma n's reputation a nd impres- sive body of work created an opportunity for him to return to Memoria l Sloa n- Kettering Ca ncer Center at the turn of the millennium. " I beca me head of t he Long Isla nd s i t e , a 5 0 , 0 0 0 s q u a r e f o o t c a n c e r c ent er t h at w a s out pat ient-ba sed ," Dr. Schu l ma n says. " My focus went from leukemia to genera l hematologica l ma lig na ncies that included lymphoma a nd multiple myeloma ." Dr. Schu lma n embraced that cha l- lenge, helping build a team of specia lists who covered a wide ra nge of ca ncers, including breast, lung, gastrointestina l, g ynecolog ic, lymphoma a nd myeloma , with each specia list dea ling only with a single disease categor y. Once again, Dr. Schulman was aligned w it h a n orga n i zat ion k now n for it s clinica l tria l a nd resea rch oppor tuni- t ies. He helped ex pa nd t he pra ct ice du r i n g h i s 1 3 yea r s w it h Memor i a l Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In that time, the Long Isla nd center expa nded from 50,000 to 100,000 squa re feet a nd tripled the number of ca ncer patients it treated. BACK TO BASICS Dr. Schulma n took on a new cha llenge from 2013 to 2017, working with eviti, a n ev idence-ba sed ca se ma na gement subsidiar y of NantHea lth. W hile in this role, he helped determine the appropri- ateness of various treatment moda lities. Though it was gratifying helping ensure patients received the proper ca re for their conditions, he longed for more face time with patients a nd the oppor tunity to contribute to resea rch effor ts. " W h a t I m i s s e d m o s t w a s t h a t 'tha n k you' at the end of the day—the acknowledg ment that what you did for the patient was up to date and evidence- ba sed," Dr. Schu lma n says. " Patients a re g ratef ul for that. A nd if you wa nt to provide up-to-the-minute ca re, you have to engage with clinica l tria ls." The robust roster of resea rch oppor- tunities at New York Ca ncer & Blood Specia lists wa s integ ra l in br ing ing D r. S c h u l m a n t o t h e p r a c t i c e . I n addition, he found the compa ssion of the specia lists a nd ea se of access for patients to be impressive a nd unique. " They of fer mu ltiple sites t hat a re convenient for patients throughout the entire New York metropolita n a rea to visit," Dr. Schulma n says. "No matter where specia lists or patients a re, we can access medica l records for different tria ls, which is ver y helpful." Beyond a rigorous focus on patients' medica l treatment, Dr. Schulma n a lso looks for wa rd to helping patients cope w it h t he s t res s t h at ca n come w it h ca ncer treatment. "I play g uita r," Dr. Schulma n says. "I hope to bring my g uita r in a nd play for patients who a re receiving or wa iting to receive treatment." ■ 2 3 M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S L O N G I S L A N D ■ 2 018

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