Leonora Slatnick: From Rutgers Tennis to Pediatric Oncology
4/22/2020
Rutgers tennis takes great pride in all our alumnae that go on and forge career paths in various field. Leonora Slatnick, a 2012 graduate of the program, is one of the many Scarlet Knights in healthcare.
Following graduation from Rutgers with a bachelor’s degree in Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Slatnick completed medical school in 2016 at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
Slatnick is currently a Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplant Fellow at the Children's Hospital Colorado. As she continues to make an impact in healthcare, she shares insight into her time as a Scarlet Knight and her career, especially during this time.
How many years have you been in your profession and what inspired you to choose this career path?
"I graduated from medical school in 2016 and completed my general pediatrics training last year. Since then I've been specializing in Pediatric Oncology which is ultimately the field I'm most interested in. I knew I wanted to go into this field after my medical school rotation. I have always been interested in science and medicine and I love that this job combines my scientific interests with the ability to form long-standing relationships with patients and families."
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
"Although there are obvious emotional challenges in pediatric oncology, the successes are extremely impactful. It is amazing to help a family navigate what is likely the worst experience they ever will go through and walk them through milestones like their first and last chemo treatments, surgeries, radiation, etc. and then see them celebrate the end of treatment. All kids want is to get back to normal life and hobbies, and it feels great to help them get there."
What is the hardest part of your job, especially now?
"There are definitely really tough days and patients/families who you get attached to who unfortunately do not always survive or who have complications throughout therapy. While that aspect has not been significantly impacted by Covid-19 directly, there is a higher level of baseline anxiety both for families and healthcare providers during this time. In efforts to minimize potential exposures, we have stricter restrictions on family visitors and less availability of our supportive staff team members which has made things that much harder for patients and providers."
How has the current situation impacted your day-to-day role?
"Fortunately, kids have not been impacted by Coronavirus nearly as much as adults have, so my daily role hasn't changed significantly compared to other physicians and trainees in adult specialties who are being pulled to help in areas with high demand like the Emergency Department or ICU. The main thing I've noticed is that everything takes a lot longer with all of the implemented precautions. We are trying to do as much telehealth as we can which makes things feel a lot less personal, but it's the best thing to keep people safe during this time."
What lessons from Rutgers have carried you into your career and life beyond sport?
"College taught me a lot about time management. It's hard to juggle being a full-time athlete with a challenging major and also take part in the normal college experience. I learned how to prioritize and get things done efficiently since we were constantly traveling and playing tennis. I've also noticed a surprising amount of overlap in how an athletic team functions and how medical providers work together. There are a lot of subtle skills you develop in a team environment and I think that has helped me a lot in my career."
What gives you great pride in being a Scarlet Knight?
"Rutgers is a great university and I got a strong education there. While the rest of my career will be academically rather than athletically based, I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to be a college athlete and represent my school in that way."
What advice would you give to student-athletes during their college years?
"Enjoy it and aim for balance. This is the least responsibility you're going to have as an adult and it's so much fun. Doing well academically in college can make the next steps in life MUCH easier, but it's just as important to develop relationships with friends and teammates. Also try branching out and meeting people outside of the athletic department. It's easy to spend all of your time together because you basically do anyway, but there are a lot of interesting people out there and you may find other things you never thought you'd be interested in."
What advice would you share for those interested in a career in healthcare?
Try to spend time with people in different areas of healthcare and pick their brains. There are a lot of different career paths and it takes an active effort to learn more about them.
Follow Rutgers tennis on social media for more features and updates from the program.
