Dr. Sonoda is a gynecologic oncologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He specializes in the surgical treatment of tumors of the female genital tract, and is a part of a multidisciplinary team of doctors who care for women with cancer.

Med School:  George Washington University School of Medicine
Residency:    Obstetrics and Gyenecology, SUNY Buffalo
Fellowship:    Gynecologic Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

How did you decide to go into medicine?

My mother is a physician, and there are many doctors in my family, so I had a lot of influence from family members.

Were there lots of dinner conversations about medicine?

Yes, and it was a way of life; growing up around the hospital and lots of medicine-related conversations.

How did you end up going into gynecologic oncology?

It was first my interest in Ob/Gyn, and then I focused on the cancer aspect.

Can you describe the training process?

Gynecologic oncology is a fellowship after Ob/Gyn residency. It’s usually 3 years, but 4 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering. So it’s a total of about 8 years of training. It’s a lot of training, but I enjoy this field very much.

Do you have strong ties to Japan?

Most of my father’s side of the family is still there, so I have a lot of uncles, aunts and cousins who are still in Japan.

Did you visit Japan often?

I was in Japan about a month ago, giving a talk at the Japanese Society of Gynecologic Oncology meeting.

Do you give your talks in Japanese?

In English (laugh)

Could you please describe your typical week?

I operate on Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays and Fridays I see patients, and Thursdays I have time to catch up with my academic work and do interviews (laugh).

What would you say is the most gratifying aspects of your practice?

One is that I really like my colleagues at this hospital. The people I work with make this job very enjoyable. I also enjoy taking care of cancer patients, who often are those who need the most medical attention. It’s very gratifying when your patients go into remission, especially when you see them in the beginning when they appear quite ill.

What would be the most difficult aspect?

Periodically I see young patients with poor prognoses. They sometimes have very young children also, and it’s difficult to break the news. But I always try to be honest with my patients.

Could you tell me about your current research projects?

One of the interests I have is in fertility-preserving surgery. I’ve been working with a medical oncologist to examine if providing chemotherapy prior to surgery could possibly shrink cervical cancer, so that you can operate and preserve a part of the uterus so that the patient can become pregnant.

That’s a wonderful technique!

It’s nice when your patients bring their new babies. Probably 10 years ago, they would not have been able to become pregnant.

Could you provide advice for current students, such as things that were helpful for you, or things that you would have liked to known as a medical student?

My biggest advice would be to have an open mind in terms of selecting a specialty. Sometimes students go into medical school knowing what specialty they want to go into, and might really try to focus in on that specialty, so they might not learn about other fields. Personally, I didn’t know about gyn-oncology when I started medical school, and it was by chance that I ran into it.

When were you first exposed to gynecologic oncology?

In residency actually. It’s a small field; there aren’t many gyn-oncologists. Depending on where you’re doing your rotation, you might not see much gyn-oncology.

How did you decide on Ob/Gyn?

My mom is an Ob/Gyn, and so is my uncle. But when I first went into medical school, I was interested in sports medicine and orthopedics. Things change, and that’s really why I recommend keeping an open mind. I also think it’s important to choose a career that you’ll enjoy, and not just because it’s something that will be financially rewarding. We just had our fellowship interviews last week, and some of the applicants asked me if I enjoy my work. I said yes, I enjoy coming into work, even on Saturdays and Sundays.

As first years, many of us are bit anxious because we don’t know yet what we’ll enjoy as a career.

It’s okay to make the wrong decision in the beginning. Some people change fields during residency, and some people even go back and do another residency. When you start your clinical rotations in third year, you’ll get a sense for if you want a surgical-based practice, or a medical-based practice.

And Ob/Gyn is a mixture.

It’s a mixture. In general, people will push it towards the surgical side, because you operate a lot, and you have bad hours (laugh)!

When you do have time away from the hospital, what hobbies do you have?

I enjoy playing golf. JMSA had a golf outing recently, but it was unfortunate because I had to operate that day. This field is pretty demanding, so I come into the hospital pretty often during the weekends.

How do you balance your work and personal life?

I focus on medicine during the week. If things are lighter on the weekends, I focus on other things. It’s the lifestyle that I chose, but I’m used to it and I enjoy everything very much.

Lastly, I’d like to ask what your favorite Japanese restaurant is.

I go to Donguri the most often. It’s on 83^rd between 1^st and 2^nd. Have you heard of Kai? It’s on 69^th and Madison. It’s a nice place also.

I’ve been in New York City for only a year - I grew up in Portland, and went to college in LA, so it sounds like I have a lot more exploring to do! Thank you so much for meeting with me today.

_________________________________________

Interview in person by Yumi Ando, MSII
Weill Cornell Medical College