Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, a globally renowned institution dedicated solely to cancer treatment, has achieved widespread recognition for its exceptional medical staff. Among its team, 246 physicians are Castle Connolly Top Doctors — a designation given to only 7 percent of the nation’s licensed physicians in their regions for their specialties.
As one of the 52 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center conducts groundbreaking scientific research aimed at conquering cancer. Annually, they handle more than 26,000 surgical procedures and about 700,000 outpatient visits, serving patients in New York City as well as through their Regional Care Network in Westchester County, Long Island, and New Jersey.
At a recent ceremony in New York City, Castle Connolly’s senior director of strategy, Caroline Baron, presented commemorative Top Doctors plaques to three Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center oncologists who were recently named 2024 Castle Connolly Top Doctors:
- Larry Norton, MD is a board-certified medical oncologist who specializes in breast cancer treatment. He’s the Medical Director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and has been a Castle Connolly Top Doctor since 1999.
- Eileen M. O'Reilly, MD is a gastrointestinal oncologist who has been recognized as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor since 2004. Her research and clinical care focus on treating pancreatic and hepatobiliary cancers, and she holds the Winthrop Rockefeller Endowed Chair of Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
- Nadeem R. Abu-Rustum, MD serves as the Chief of the Gynecologic Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, leading a team that specializes in ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancers. Board-certified in gynecologic oncology as well as obstetrics and gynecology, he has been a Castle Connolly Top Doctor since 2002.
Reflecting on the honor, Dr. Abu-Rustum emphasized the significance of peer recognition.
“It's wonderful to be acknowledged for this, particularly because it's coming from nominations from colleagues who work in the area we specialize in,” he says.
Dr. Norton agrees.
“Being a Castle Connolly Top Doctor is one of the highest honors you can get as a clinician because you're selected by your peers,” he says. "Who is better at identifying Top Doctors than other doctors?"
In a rapidly evolving healthcare environment, the doctors say technology is giving us tools to help establish better medicine — but it can’t replace the most important aspect of patient-centered care.
“We have access to enormous amounts of information from every source,” Dr. O’Reilly says. “But at the end of the day, you want someone to synthesize that for you, to distill it down into an actionable plan, to communicate that plan, to oversee that plan, and to guide you.”
As healthcare becomes more complex, Dr. Abu-Rustum says, the nature of the doctor-patient relationship has changed.
“You need teams to help follow patients and manage them in the setting of survivorship and long-term follow-up,” he says.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s collaborative framework is tailored to address the complexities of cancer treatment.
“We're fortunate at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center that our setup offers a lot of support for patients when they are diagnosed with cancer,” Dr. Abu-Rustum says. “We rely a lot on our nurses, our fellows, the disease management team, and all of our colleagues to help with an accurate diagnosis and to plan treatment. No single person can do this alone.”
Dr. Norton stresses the importance of holistic care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center — a desire to treat the whole person and not just the disease.
“We make the patient the center of our attention,” he says. “We try to do everything possible not only to take care of them medically, but to take care of them psychologically, socially, and even spiritually.”
Their commitment to holistic care is a shared belief, extending beyond medical treatment to encompass every patient’s overall well-being.
“Every day, we have to remind ourselves that we're very privileged to be in this position,” Dr. O’Reilly says. “We owe it to the person in front of us to take care of them as if we're taking care of one of our family members.”
About Castle Connolly
Top Doctors are nominated by peer physicians and selected by the physician-led Castle Connolly research team. Physicians cannot and do not pay to be selected.
Castle Connolly publishes its Top Doctors list at castleconnolly.com and in a number of print and online partner publications. Nominations are open to all board-certified MDs, DOs and DPMs. The Castle Connolly team chooses honorees based on nominee criteria that includes their medical education, training, hospital appointments, and disciplinary histories.
If you’re a physician — someone with a long-standing commitment to delivering the highest-quality patient care — learn how to nominate a Top Doctor.
