Ahead of the conference held in San Diego in December, Dr. Mohyuddin, a blood cancer specialist with a focus on multiple myeloma and medical education, put out a heartfelt appeal on X (formerly Twitter): “If you’re a trainee and interested in meeting me at #ASH23, please reach out … (especially if [international medical graduate]) I’d love to meet and offer support in whatever capacity I can! I can’t have a research project for each one of you, but happy to help/mentor in any other way possible,” he posted on X back in late November.
An international medical graduate himself, Dr. Mohyuddin recalls how overwhelmed he felt when he first attended an annual ASH conference as a trainee, so he aims to reassure others that they “don’t have to know everything.”
“It’s about networking and broadening horizons,” he said in an interview that took place between ASH sessions, his own research presentations, and meetings with the many trainees who took him up on the offer he made via X. “I’ve spent most of this ASH meeting trainees — it’s the most rewarding thing for me at these meetings.
“Reassurance is a lot of what we do in oncology,” he continued, drawing a connection between his affinity for helping trainees and providing compassionate care to patients. “For an oncologist, the single most important thing is having excellent communication skills and being able to express support and empathy. The ability to connect deeply with your patients during their time of need is profoundly important.
“You can compensate for lack of knowledge, because we have so many other sources of support for knowledge, but you simply cannot compensate for poor communication skills, and your patient suffers as a result,” he said.
Relationship Building
In addition to the guidance he received from mentors, Dr. Mohyuddin noted that it was the chance to build supportive, empathetic relationships that drew him to specialize in blood cancer and, in particular, to caring for patients with multiple myeloma and conducting research focused on improving the patient experience.
Dr. Mohyuddin attended medical school at the Aga Khan University in Pakistan, then completed his internal medicine residency and fellowship at the University of Kansas in Kansas City. As a chief resident there, he focused on novel approaches to education delivery and improving access to research for trainees. As a fellow, he developed clinical and research interests in multiple myeloma, which he describes as an “incredibly rewarding field” marked by “truly spectacular advances over the last two decades.”
“There are some cancers you can cure, which means you don’t get to see patients often, and there are some you can’t cure, where patients die early, and there’s not a lot of time to build a relationship,” he said. “But there are some where patients can do well even though they aren’t currently cured, and you get to form really amazing and meaningful relationships over a long period of time.
“Multiple myeloma occupies that space, and that’s why I’m drawn to it,” Dr. Mohyuddin added, noting that he doesn’t shy away from forging emotional connections with patients. “I recognize that makes me vulnerable, but I think that is essentially what your patients deserve from you — to be invested at an emotional level with them through their suffering.”