Dr. John D’Orazio takes us back to his first day of medical school
The second installment of Making the Rounds features Dr. John D’Orazio, a clinician and researcher at the DanceBlue Kentucky Children’s Hospital Hematology/Oncology Clinic. Making the Rounds is a Q&A series where you’ll get to know the providers at UK HealthCare and what they’re like outside the lab and clinic.
Dr. D’Orazio received his medical degree from University of Miami, School of Medicine, Miami, Fla. He then completed a Pediatrics residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston. D’Orazio is of Italian descent, and he enjoys eating and cooking Italian food.
Where could someone find the most authentic Italian food in Lexington?
In Lexington? You’d have to come over to my house!
What do you like to cook yourself?
Well, the other night I made a good risotto. I make fresh pasta, and I make a sauce to go with it… Pizza – I do pizza a lot. The more toppings you can put on it and the less crust, the better for me!
Describe your ideal vacation.
So [my family and I] like nature. We like outdoors, we like hiking. I like photography. We’ve been three times up to the Yellowstone glacier. We’ve been a couple of times to Costa Rica – love it down there.
It would be a place like that, where you can just get away, you know. We like to rent a house for a week and just have a low-key time – go hiking, go fishing kind of a thing.
How would your friends describe you?
Optimistic, funny, kind.
Do you recall your first day of med school?
Yes. So I’m an MD, PhD – I’m a physician scientist. I did a kind of blended thing. But yes [I remember]. Just the great honor of sitting there and realizing that this is the beginning of a journey I followed my heart to.
You know, I’m the first person in my family to ever go to college, not even to mention med school. It was just a great honor, and I soaked it up like a sponge.
Watch this video to hear Dr. D’Orazio explain why making a connection with his patients is so important to him.
