Fellow of the Month: Meet Mehndi Dandwani, MD

Meet Mehndi Dandwani, MD

Fellows Forum: Welcome to today’s episode of the Fellows Forum podcast. Today, we have another episode of our Fellow of the Month series, where we spotlight a member of the community every month. Our fellow of the month for March is Dr. Mehndi Dandwani, who is a first-year Hematology/Oncology Fellow at the University of Iowa Healthcare. Thanks so much for coming on the show today. We’re excited to have you on.

Mehndi Dandwani, MD: Thank you for having me.

Fellows Forum: Absolutely, I’m looking forward to chatting more today. To start off, would you like to introduce yourself and share a little bit about yourself?

Dr. Dandwani: Like you mentioned, I’m currently pursuing my first year of fellowship in hematology/oncology at the University of Iowa. Fortunately, I also completed a year of palliative care fellowship here at the University of Iowa. My footprints trail back to India in Mumbai, where I grew up. I did my medical school training back in Mumbai and then came here to Danbury, Connecticut, to pursue my medical residency at the Danbury Hospital, after which I decided to pursue a career in palliative medicine along with hematology and oncology. Besides medicine, I also enjoy doing some extracurricular hobbies like yoga and dancing, which bring a sense of tranquility in me.

Fellows Forum: Awesome, thanks so much for sharing. You mentioned a little bit about how your journey in medicine began. Could you tell us a little bit more about why you decided to become a physician?

Dr. Dandwani: If I trace it back, I would very playfully say that it all started when I was in the playful times of childhood, where we are all exploring. My doctor playset with the plastic stethoscope and syringes sparked an ignition and passion at a very young age. Who would have known that I would be tracing my roots back to childhood? As I grew up—I come from a non-medical background family—what I realized was that I was intrigued by the physiology and anatomy of the human body. I would question things like, why do we have acid in our stomachs when it’s so corrosive on our skin? When my grandfather had a heart attack, he did not manifest typical chest pain. Why was that? All these questions really set my mind to pondering how I wanted to discover the unknown. I decided to tread upon path of medicine and here I am pursuing my heme/onc fellowship.

Fellows Forum: Thanks for sharing about that. It’s really great to hear about where your journey has brought you so far. Since you mentioned you’re in your first year of fellowship at the University of Iowa, would you like to tell us, what has your first year of fellowship been like so far?

Dr. Dandwani: The first year of fellowship, like everyone says, is a steep learning curve where you are constantly juggling new things you are learning. It’s so diversified that one day you’re learning one thing and next day brings together a new learning opportunity where you’re seeing a different form of cancer. It never gets mundane. Everyone is so collegial here, and everyone is just a knock away at the doorstep whenever I’m in doubt. It’s definitely been fulfilling and rewarding, and I couldn’t have asked for a better fellowship training.

Fellows Forum: That’s really great to hear. I’m sure there’s always so much to learn and you have so many unique experiences.

Dr. Dandwani: For sure.

Fellows Forum: What are some of your research interests and areas of focus that you’ve been able to explore so far during fellowship?

Dr. Dandwani: That’s a great question. Currently, I have focused my research interest on monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance (MGRS) These are patients who do not get enough spotlight until they have a kidney biopsy. By the time we discover these patients, they have ventured so far into their disease advancement that they are dependent on lifelong dialysis. I’m interested in looking into innovative treatments in these patient populations where we can salvage them from lifelong dependence on renal replacement therapies. Also, I have been focusing my research on frail elderly patients. These are the ones that we shy away from enrolling in clinical trials, and when you delve further, you realize that they need a very individualized approach, a one-shoe-fits-all approach that tailors treatments to their best interests and maintain their quality of life while also prolonging it.

Fellows Forum: That’s such important work to focus on to help improve quality of life for these patients. Do you have any recent publications or any projects that you’re currently working on that you’d like to spotlight today?

Dr. Dandwani: I recently presented a poster at ASH on treatment outcomes in MGRS. I am now working to develop a manuscript and looking for further collaborations to expand the patient pool.

Fellows Forum: That’s great. Congrats on the ASH presentation, and we look forward to seeing the future research as well.

Dr. Dandwani: Thank you.

Fellows Forum: So, as your fellowship training progresses, what are some of the career directions you’re hoping to pursue after fellowship?

Dr. Dandwani: I’m always shifting gears, but currently I see myself steering the rudder of my professional journey and development into academic medicine, since the interest that I have is heavily focused in academics. I want to focus my career path not only on care of elderly patients and plasma cell dyscrasias, but also focus on quality of life and patient-reported outcomes. Given that I am so focused in palliative care, I’m interested in looking at the care of these patients not only from a very narrow and zoomed-in knowledge of their physical symptomatic burden, but also trying to diversify and widen the lens of how I focus as a clinician on the care of patients by also looking at their social, relational, psychosocial suffering. Hopefully, I will be able to pick up these salient features and incorporate them into my future research interests and academic training.

Fellows Forum: Those such exciting avenues to pursue. So, what advice would you give to medical students or residents who are considering a career in hematology/oncology? What are some of the biggest lessons or takeaways that you’ve learned so far?

Dr. Dandwani: This is an exciting time to be in hematology/oncology. Be ready to embrace a journey of lifelong learning. You will never get bored, I promise. There’s so much to read. Try to get your hands on mentorship as early as you can during your training. It is never too early to start research, especially in areas that pique your interest. Last but not the least, my mentors have always told me this branch of palliative care and hematology/oncology involves the care of the sickest patients. It can take a toll on you at times. At the same time, maintaining emotional resilience and indulging in some form of self-care to rejuvenate yourself is the key to staying ahead in this journey and not experiencing burnout.

Fellows Forum: That’s really important advice to share with those who are listening today. As we wrap up today, our last question, which we always ask everybody at the end of these Fellows Forum interviews is, what is your favorite part of being a fellow?

Dr. Dandwani: If I had to stay perpetually a fellow, I would definitely agree to that. I know people always question me, “Why do you say that?” But what I’ve realized through my fellowship at University of Iowa is that through the fellowship experiences and meetings, I get to interact with fellows from various other specialties and learn from them new things apart from hematology/oncology. Also, being a fellow gives you the perk where you can glean various pearls of wisdom from all other faculty members while you’re molding and developing your own. And someone above you is always a knock away when I’m in doubt of what I should be doing, whereas in attending-hood, a lot of responsibility comes upon you. These are the perks that you should enjoy during your fellowship training, and never hesitate to ask someone when in doubt.

Fellows Forum: Amazing, that’s a fantastic answer. Thank you so much for coming on today to share all this with us. It’s really wonderful to hear about your fellowship journey and all the things you’ve accomplished and are looking forward to doing. Thanks so much for doing this Fellow of the Month interview with us today.

Dr. Dandwani: Thank you for granting me the opportunity. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my experience.

About Dr. Dandwani

Mehndi Dandwani, MD, is a first-year Hematology/Oncology Fellow at the University of Iowa Healthcare. She previously completed medical school at Terna Medical College in India, internal medicine residency at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut, and a year of palliative care fellowship at the University of Iowa Healthcare. Her research interests focus on monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance and incorporating patient-reported outcomes and quality-of-life measures into cancer care.