After Considering Oceanography, She’s Making a Splash in Radiation Oncology
By Rodney Campbell, ABR Communications Manager
2025;18(1):12
With two older sisters planning to go into medicine, young Katherine Tzou was looking for a separate career.
“Because I’m the youngest and wanted to be different, I thought there was no way I was going into medicine,” she said. “I was going to be an oceanographer.”
Instead, the seas parted, and life changed for the future Dr. Tzou. As a teenager, she volunteered at a nursing home and at the VA Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, where her dad was the chief biochemist.
Her eyes were opened.
“I enjoy working with patients and working in teams,” said Dr. Tzou, who earned her medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. “That’s what led me to say, ‘Maybe it’s in my genes. Maybe I’m destined to pursue medicine.’”
Her sisters are cardiologists and Dr. Tzou is a radiation oncologist, specializing in GU and GYN malignancies. She’s an associate professor at University of Colorado Medicine and sees patients at Memorial Hospitals North and Central in Colorado Springs.
She’s been an ABR volunteer since 2017, writing questions for the Radiation Oncology Qualifying Exam and serving as an oral examiner. Just five years out of training, Dr. Tzou took a cautious approach to her first assignment.
“I still remember that first set of questions,” she said. “I think they asked for six questions that year, and I think I wrote something like 12 because I wanted to have backups. I was anxious about it, but then once I got into it, everyone was so kind, and it was helpful to hear what other people were asking.”
She obviously caught on. David Gaffney, PhD, MD, the chair of Dr. Tzou’s Radiation Oncology Qualifying GYN Committee, calls her a “committed, capable, creative, intelligent, and brilliant question writer.”
Dr. Tzou’s initial experience as an ABR oral examiner came in spring 2021, the first remote oral exam adminstration during the pandemic. She said the experience has been invaluable.
“It has helped me grow as a physician in my own practice,” she said. “Because I do it twice a year, I’m constantly looking for new data and talking with experts in the field. It’s been such a wonderful experience. One of my favorite things that I do is volunteer for the ABR.”
Volunteering for the ABR gives Dr. Tzou a chance to give back to her profession and learn from colleagues. She has found that discussions go beyond the subjects at hand.
“GYN is such a small group, so you don’t commonly find someone who wants to talk about it,” she said. “The beauty of the ABR is that you’re finding your people, talking about cases, learning from each other and how to improve care for your patients, discussing your life, and developing friendships beyond just work. It’s really wonderful.”
As a physician who’s involved in both GU and GYN, Dr. Tzou has her feet in two subspecialties. Her attraction to GYN started from a solid foundation of knowledge during residency at Mayo Clinic Florida was solidified during an away rotation at Washington University in St. Louis, when she did approximately 50 cases in a month.
“I learned I really enjoy doing procedures,” she said. “I am honored that patients allow me to care for them during a very vulnerable time and in a very sensitive area. Because of the procedures I do, I get to know my patients and their families and friends on a deeper level.”
She stayed on at Mayo after completing her residency in 2012, eventually becoming an associate professor of radiation oncology. It was there that she became interested in GU; one of her mentors had a high volume of cases and asked her to assist.
“I got into it and enjoyed it,” Dr. Tzou said. “It was somewhat parallel to what I was doing with my GYN patients.”
Going into medicine wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Dr. Tzou’s calling was different from those of her sisters, but the goal remains the same.
“I am fortunate that my family taught me to work hard, always strive to improve, and treat everyone as equals,” she said. “My mentors and residency taught me we are put on this earth to take care of each other. Whether that’s your colleague or a patient or a family member, that’s the most important thing. That’s what makes me stay late or come in early. If we always try to do the right thing for our patients and for each other, we can make the world a more compassionate place. What’s more gratifying than that?”
