Dr. Roderick C. Givens

Dr. Roderick C. Givens believes this is an exciting time to be practicing medicine, and a challenging time as well. Physicians today are called on more than ever to be patient advocates and exemplars of a vital part of American society. A radiation oncologist, Dr. Givens sees how technology and health care are increasingly interwoven.

“In med school, I saw the extraordinary advances that were on the horizon with respect to cancer research and treatment,” he said. “As computer programming, performance and operation have exponentially developed, I have seen breakthroughs that would have been unimaginable in years past, but would show an explosion as far as advances in the future.”

This focus on technology in no way is a substitute for the human side of practicing medicine, and Dr. Givens was inspired in high school by the compassion of his family’s primary care physician. Seeing this doctor in action led him to choose medicine while in high school. Other mentors inspired Dr. Givens throughout med school and residency training

“They challenged me as a person to develop into a compassionate individual who combined technology with medicine and offered a human side that is critical to being a good being a physician,” he said. “Those lessons impacted me immeasurably both professionally and personally.”

Dr. Givens sees organized medicine and the Physician Leadership Academy as necessary in today’s complex, multi-layered world of health care. The competing interests of government, insurance companies and those who actually work with the patients make it more important than ever for physicians to advocate for themselves and their patients.

“I hope that through organized medicine, we can develop the ability to truly practice medicine in a reasonable and cost effective way,” Dr. Givens said. “But most importantly, to practice medicine in the appropriate manner that works best for the patients.”