Dr. Ashwin John
Experience: | 3 years |
Education: | The Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical University |
Academic degree: | MD (Doctor of Medicine) |
Area of specialization: | I am trained in oncology n most of my work now is around evaluating ppl who show up with symptoms that might be cancer or smtimes already have a diagnosis. I try to look at not just the reports but the whole person—like, where they’re at mentally, what other health probs they’ve got, what stage the tumor is in. That kind of thing shapes the whole plan. I work a lot with radiation therapy too—3DCRT, IMRT, IGRT, VMAT, SBRT, SRS, and brachytherapy... these tools can be powerful but ya they’re also tricky. Managing side effects is a big deal, esp with head-neck or GI tumors. Some ptnts tolerate well, others crash. Have to stay alert to that. And sometimes curative care isn’t possible—then it’s about easing pain, fatigue, breathlessness, or just helping families cope. I’m also pretty involved in palliative & best supportive care, trying not to lose sight of comfort even while we're fighting the disease. |
Achievements: | I am kinda proud of that one time i presented a paper on “optimum bladder volume ranges for organ at risk doses in cervical intracavitary brachytherapy” at the 36th AROI TN PY conf 2021—it got me the D.V.L.N Shasthri award, which felt huge back then. Also did a poster on a rare brain tumor—anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma—at the 8th YROC 2020. Bit of a mouthful, yeah, but it pushed me to read deeper into CNS tumors and lowkey sparked my interest in neuro-onco too. |
I am someone who finished post grad from Madras Medical College, batch 2019 to 2022—those 3 yrs were pretty full-on, lot of rotations, long shifts, some pretty tough calls, esp in medicine wards. Cleared my DNB exit exam in 2023, which was one of those sigh-of-relief moments. After that, joined International Cancer Centre at Neyyoor—really opened my eyes to the way chronic illness impacts everything, not just organs but ppl’s entire lives. Each case felt layered, not just medical but emotional too. Later moved to Max Superspeciality Hospital in Saket, Delhi. Busy place, high volume, lot of cardiac & endocrine cases. Had to learn to think fast but also listen carefully, esp in OPD—sometimes 5 minutes is all u get. Right now, working at Meridian Superspeciality Hospital, Chennai. Here I’ve been able to slow down a bit, dig deeper into long-term patient care. Trying to balance evidence-based practice with the kind of practical, day-to-day guidance patients actually remember and follow. Still learning. Honestly. Even now some things confuse me—like why two ppl with the same lab reports respond totally differently. That stuff keeps me humble. But I like that. Makes medicine less about protocols and more about ppl. I guess that’s the part I’m drawn to.
