Arnold Malcolm, M.D.
Malcolm set for VICC ‘homecoming’
Arnold Malcolm, M.D., has returned to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center as associate professor of Radiation Oncology. Rejoining the Vanderbilt faculty after 19 years is a “homecoming,” Malcolm said.
“I've always considered Vanderbilt as an academic home for me, no matter what,” he said. “It was somewhat difficult to leave, but it's a pleasure to come back, and I am really looking forward to contributing to the Medical Center and to academic medicine.”
Malcolm is a national leader in radiation oncology, with more than 30 years experience in the field.
“We're excited to have Dr. Malcolm back,” said Dennis E. Hallahan, M.D., professor and chairman of Radiation Oncology. “His wealth of experience in treating cancer with radiation is tremendous, and we're delighted he will be bringing this knowledge to our institution, not only to enhance our patient-care services, but to share his knowledge with our team.”
Malcolm brings a particular expertise in brachytherapy, the technique of placing radioactive sources in or near tissue to deliver radiation therapy. While Vanderbilt-Ingram has been using this method to treat various cancers, Malcolm will initiate the first breast cancer procedures.
“In very selective, early breast cancer patients, we will be offering the option of an investigational therapy that entails putting catheters into the breast to deliver high dose radiotherapy,” Malcolm said. “The curative treatments occur twice a day for four to five days, whereas a course of external beam radiation takes six to eight weeks.”
Malcolm said he is also eager to work with residents and medical students to enhance their training.
“I think residents should be trained in all aspects of radiation therapy, because there are so many things that contribute to giving good care to patients,” he said. “I've always held radiation oncology as an art. It's a science, but there's an art to it as well.”
As a member of Vanderbilt's faculty from 1981-87, Malcolm served as director and residency director of the Vanderbilt Center for Radiation Oncology, medical director for Radiation Technology, and co-director for the Breast Diagnostic Center.
Malcolm received his medical degree from Meharry Medical College, where he also completed an internship. He went on to do his residency at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy at Harvard Medical School, and completed a research fellowship in Harvard's School of Public Health. Malcolm then joined the faculty at Harvard, where he remained until coming to Vanderbilt.
After leaving Vanderbilt, Malcolm served in various leadership roles at the University of California in Los Angeles, as well as Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif. He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California at Irvine. Prior to his return, Malcolm was medical director of St. Bernardine Medical Center's Department of Radiation Oncology in San Bernardino, Calif., then was a radiation oncologist at Valley Radiation Oncology Center in Tarzana, Calif.
Malcolm is board-certified in therapeutic radiology and is a fellow in the American College of Radiology.