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When Dr. Stephen Mayer got the call saying that Valley View’s Calaway-Young Cancer Center was searching for an oncologist, he wasted no time answering.
“This practice really stood out, by far, as the most high-quality cancer care on the Western Slope,” Mayer, who officially began working as an oncologist at the Calaway-Young Cancer Center on May 20, said. “Every day I am more and more impressed with the quality of care that we can deliver here.”
While the Calaway-Young Cancer Center was Mayer’s first choice with respect to practices on the Western Slope, being an oncologist was not the physician’s first career.
Mayer, who also has a PhD in molecular biology, worked in research at Harvard Medical School in Boston. However, after six years of serving in that capacity, Mayer had a change of heart.
“I kind of decided for a variety of reasons that I am not cut out to be a high powered scientist,” Mayer said of his career in exclusively research. “I wanted to be able to feel that at the end of the day, or the end of the week, that I’ve done something meaningful rather than just doing experiments.”
Subsequently, Mayer attended medical school at Boston University’s School of Medicine. Upon completion Mayer then did specialty training in internal medicine and sub-specialty training in medical oncology at Harvard Medical School.
Eventually, Mayer relocated from Boston to Denver and finally Glenwood Springs to also pursue a life-long dream of owning a horse ranch.
“I saw a bumper sticker a while back in the Denver area that said, ‘I’m not a Colorado native but I got here as fast as I could,’ and that is sort of how I feel,” Mayer said.
The medical oncologist and hematologist’s areas of practice include: gastrointestinal, prostate, bladder, kidney, gynecologic, melanoma, neuroendocrine, breast, lung, hematologic malignancies and benign hematology.
“Dr. Mayer has excellent rapport with both patients and colleagues alike,” Calaway-Young Cancer Center Executive Director Ann Wilcox said in a recent press release. “His extensive experience providing high quality care for patients with cancer and benign hematology conditions, and his passion for research, make him the perfect fit for us to continue our work as the leader in cancer care in the region.
Added Mayer, “I really focus on helping patients understand their cancers and their conditions and educating them about their conditions. … I think the more knowledge you have the less anxiety you have.”
