About Dr. Schafer
LIUDMILA SCHAFER, MD, FACP, IS A BOARD-CERTIFIED AND AWARD-WINNING MEDICAL ONCOLOGIST
From the outside, being a Physician often seems glamourous.
But when you’re living it… enduring the long hours, the pressure of finishing medical records in your ‘free time’, the crippling medical school debt (and never quite feeling safe about retirement) and of course, the bylaws… it doesn’t feel very glamourous.
The labels we earn are many: Oncologist, Clinical Researcher, Principal Investigator, Associate Professor, Certified Teacher-Scholar.
But even the most hard-earned labels can turn into stereotypes.
It is not often the labels we want that end up defining the opportunities and respect we receive: too often our gender, background, race, religion, education, family, or country can create obstacles on our journey to success and fulfilment.
I believe we all deserve to have more control over our destiny and the way we are perceived… our happiness, fulfilment, our ability to be multi-passionate and have a comfortable retirement. We can’t afford to leave it up to the institutions that too often restrict us, overlook us, or make us feel small.
My Story
My unconventional journey into medicine began when I was 5 years old and drowned in the sea on a family holiday. In this moment I discovered my Organic Bravery™ and I have been facing my fears head-on ever since:
Leaving my home town and my family’s farm in my late twenties and moving to the U.S. America with my young son, with just $600 and only a few words of English.
Surviving imbalanced, sometimes toxic hospital culture, leading to discriminatory treatment often resulting in working for weeks and weeks in a row without a single day off.
Smashing through relentless, restrictive layers of political and bureaucratic limitations to achieve the next milestone required to advance my career in medicine and academia.
For three decades, I have fought hard to advance my passion, and find avenues for career progression as a female oncologist and clinical researcher. But the most powerful Organic Bravery™ I’ve experienced hasn’t been my own: it’s belonged to the patients in my care who are too often receiving the worst news of their life. Watching them rise-up with dignity, gravitas and clear-headedness to fight for survival has been the greatest honor of my career, and my life.
Now, I’m pouring this lifetime of research, risk-taking, mentoring and caring into the Doctor Connect.
Here at the Doctor Connect we provide consulting, strategy and support to help physicians like you to break out of the limitations imposed on you by a traditional career in Medicine. Our aim is to combine your hard-earned credentials with your other passions, to help you choose a new label, a new story for yourself and your future that is both meaningful and profitable.
YOU DESERVE TO FEEL MORE IN CONTROL OF YOUR FUTURE
Everything you have accomplished so far is only a stepping stone to what comes next…
Who is Dr. Schafer?
LIUDMILA SCHAFER, MD, FACP, IS A BOARD-CERTIFIED AND AWARD-WINNING MEDICAL ONCOLOGIST
MEDIA
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TV host on ABC15
- #1 Best Selling Author of the book “The Other Side of Oncology”
- TEDx speaker
- Podcast host
- Published work in numerous medical and peer-to-peer journals inc Research to Practice, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology
NATIONAL & INSTITUTIONAL COMMITTEES SERVING ON
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Health Media’s Medical Board
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Membership Committee and the Executive Council of the American Association for Cancer Education (AACE)
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Women’s Faculty Development Caucus Mentoring Committee (WFDC) for medical students and faculty,
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Institutional Review Board (IRB), to name a few
- See Local & Regional Meetings list
EDUCATOR
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an Associate Professor of Medicine,
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Certified Teacher-Scholar in cancer education, plus clinical and academic mentor.
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Provided groundwork for a physician’s education curriculum in hematology/oncology
- an executive and business coach
RESEACHER
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Served as principal investigator and co-investigator for clinical trials and holds certification in Translational Research in cancer
- See Research publications
