Leslie S. Kersun, MD, MSCE, MSEd

As an attending physician in the Cancer Center at CHOP, I treat children diagnosed with leukemia and lymphoma and am part of our Hematologic Malignancies Steering Committee. My area of clinical focus includes the care of patients with newly diagnosed and relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma. I develop our clinical treatment guidelines for patients with this type of lymphoma and ensure their care is consistent, carefully monitored and based upon the results of the most current clinical research. I love the clinical care model we have in the Cancer Center which involves collaboration with a large multidisciplinary team comprised of amazing, dedicated, knowledgeable, experienced team members who all work together to provide the best possible care for our patients and families. I try to ensure that every patient and family under my care has a clear understanding of their diagnosis, available treatments, and possible side effects. The time of diagnosis or relapse is so overwhelming for patients and families and puts an incredible strain on their life. One of my goals is to support them through this journey, attend to the emotional aspects involved in communicating about these challenging topics and allow me to understand what is most important to them to facilitate shared decision-making.

In addition to the care of patients, my passions are education and teaching the communication of serious news. I am the Program Director for the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at CHOP, which is one of the largest in the country. I also serve as the Director for Medical Education in the Division of Oncology. I am the Associate Designated Institutional Official as part of the Executive Committee of Graduate Medical Education at CHOP. In this role, I collaborate with the leadership team to oversee training programs throughout CHOP and design faculty development for other program leaders at our institution. I also teach Vitaltalk to students, staff, trainees, and faculty. This is a nationally accepted and published approach to delivering serious news, attending to the emotional aspects of challenging conversations and mapping goals of care with patients and families allowing shared decision-making at critical time points in treatment and at the end of life. I have been involved in educational efforts in national organizations such as the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) and the American Society of Hematology (ASH). Through ASH, I have been a faculty member in the Medical Educator’s Institute and a prior Co-Director of the Program.

It is a privilege to collaborate with incredible team members and colleagues who all work tirelessly to treat the whole patient and family. I feel fortunate to help teach and design the education for the future physicians in our specialty and participate in the culture change in using the Vitaltalk approach to teach complex communication tasks.