Dr. Thomas Lee, D.V.M.
Radiation Oncology Resident
I was born and raised in Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, a beautiful country surrounded by sea. My father is a professor and my mother is an international trader. They inspired me to embrace the beauty of science and academics.
Before I entered veterinary school at National Taiwan University (NTU), my dream was to own a zoo. However, I realized that my true interest was in small animals that accompanied us every day after my first year in veterinary school. I also knew that I wanted to be one of the specialized clinical faculty after my clinical year at our teaching hospital.
The most significant event that influenced my decision of specialty was my childhood experience. I had acute lymphoblastic leukemia when I was three and was cured after nearly a year of seriously intense chemotherapy. Without a doubt, I devoted myself to veterinary oncology and hoped that I could do my best to help my adorable patients while avoiding their suffering from those painful experiences I’d gone through.
After a rotating internship, I started my medical oncology residency at NTU Veterinary Teaching Hospital. This was a comprehensive oncology training and combined with a master’s program. We also collaborated with a human radiation oncology team to treat our patients during this three-year training. After I finished my medical oncology residency, I was not only comfortable to manage these patients, but also had the knowledge about radiation therapy and basic radiobiology.
My residency mentor persuaded me to keep serving in our Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) and assisting his teaching after my residency. I started to practice contouring and radiation treatment planning since then. During this period, I discussed with human radiation oncologists and medical physicists about every treatment plan I’d made. The more I became involved with radiation therapy planning, the more I wanted to be a board-certified radiation oncologist.
I am very lucky to get the residency position and join FACC team. I firmly believe that this top-notch program will make my treatment planning more comprehensive and benefit my patients. I would like to devote myself to teaching, researching, and solving the problems faced in routine practice, while also helping cancer patients.
I have an eight-year old Golden Retriever named Spinach. (He is very strong and I preferred to name him Spinach rather than Popeye.) You can tell his age from the cute white mask on his face, but he is still very active and energetic. He stays in Taiwan with my parents in case they miss me too much.