"Any doctor will tell you that you're not just treating a patient, but a whole group of loved ones, too. So when a patient dies, something in each family dies as well. You would think this would amplify the grief--with more involved--but it actually helps me process the grief, because just as I partnered with the patient and family before, that partnership also helps share the grief. Even though the patient may be dead, there is something alive about him or her in the family, and I'm right there with them. "

This is a concern that has risen to prominence in all specialties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Oncology has always had the high mortality, and a question about burnout is fair territory. You want to come off as objective, but empathetic; fatalistic but optimistic. These are difficult dichotomies to verbalize successfully, especially to someone for whom death is a rarity in his or her life. There is a lot of science going on in your specialty, so use that in your answer.

"I didn't become an Oncologist because I thought I could cure everyone; I became one to try my best to cure one person at a time. As the science advances, I am hopeful the odds will be improving and want to be the one to do that. That keeps me on-task and on-message."