Mount Sinai’s Richard Bakst, MD, Inducted to the Society of Honorary Police Surgeons of the City of New York
One of 22 physicians appointed as a member of the Society of Honorary Police Surgeons of the City of New York
Richard Bakst, MD, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was appointed as a member of the Society of Honorary Police Surgeons of the City of New York (NYPD) by Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill.
Members of the Society of Honorary Police Surgeons are physicians who exhibit outstanding service and expertise in a specific medical specialty. The selection process for new members of the Society is extremely rigorous, and nominees go through an extensive review process. When service members or their immediate family members are injured, the NYPD calls upon the closest and most appropriate Honorary Surgeon to tend to the patient upon his or her arrival at a medical facility.
“As a native New Yorker, it is an honor and privilege to be inducted into the Society and be part of one of the best police departments in the country” said Dr. Bakst, a board certified radiation oncologist whose clinical practice is focused on the personalized treatment of patients with head and neck cancer, breast cancer, and lymphoma.
Dr. Bakst works closely with his colleagues in surgery, pathology, radiology, and medical oncology to develop a treatment plan that minimizes both the risk of cancer recurrence and the risk of treatment-associated toxicity. His goal is to implement radiation therapy only when needed, and to use advances in technology to target radiation to areas at risk while minimizing radiation exposure to nearby normal tissues. His research interests include investigating mechanisms by which cancer invades and spreads along nerves, salivary gland cancers, optimizing the technical delivery of radiation for breast cancer patients to minimize toxicity, and investigating the optimal utilization of radiation for hematological malignancies.
Dr. Bakst attended New York University, where he earned his undergraduate and medical degree. He then completed his residency at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he served as chief resident. He has published numerous peer-reviewed papers on a broad range of oncological topics and serves as a reviewer for a number of cancer journals.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
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