Sarah P.

Psutka

MD

MSc

 

When patients learn about a new cancer diagnosis, they often describe the feeling of going from being well to unwell in the space of a few sentences. It’s a time of vulnerability and a feeling of loss of control. I believe in compassionate, patient-centered, and multidisciplinary team-based care that prioritizes a personalized treatment approach to help patients achieve the best outcomes we can, and also helps patients reclaim that lost control while minimizing treatment burden and toxicity. I partner with my patients to build support structures, and find ways to cultivate their physical and mental resilience, to optimize outcomes during treatment, recovery, and survivorship.”

When patients learn about a new cancer diagnosis, they often describe the feeling of going from being well to unwell in the space of a few sentences. It's a time of vulnerability and a felling of loss of control. I believe in compassionate, patient-centered, and multidisciplinary team-based care that prioritizes a personalized treatment approach to help patients achieve the best outcomes we can, and also helps patients reclaim that lost control while minimizing treatment burden and toxicity. I partner with my patients to build support structures, and find ways to cultivate their physical and mental resilience, to optimize outcomes during treatment, recovery, and survivorship.

Biography

Dr. Sarah Psutka MD, MSc is an Associate Professor of Urology in the Department of Urology at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. She received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University and completed urology residency training at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She completed a Society of Urologic Oncology Fellowship in Urologic Oncology at the Mayo Clinic, and concurrently obtained her Masters’ in Clinical and Translational Science.

Dr. Psutka’s clinical efforts focus on minimally-invasive and complex open urologic oncology, with a particular interest in advanced bladder, kidney, and testis cancer.  In addition to her practice at the University of Washington main campus, she leads the urologic oncology program at Harborview Medical Center and is the Associate Program Director of the UW Society of Urologic Oncology Fellowship Program.

Dr. Psutka’s research focuses on the study and development of personalized, comprehensive risk stratification measures in patients with advanced urologic malignancies. She leads research studying the integration of principles of aging research, comprehensive geriatric assessments, body composition, and psychometric capital assessments in patients with advanced GU malignancies with a focus on patient-reported outcomes and development of prehabilitation interventions. She currently leads multiple clinical trials in bladder and kidney cancer. Her research has been funded by the National Institute of Aging (2022-2024 GEMSSTAR award), and the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, and she was the 2022 Recipient of the Society of Urologic Oncology Young Investigator Award. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Urologic Oncology, the SUO Clinical Trials Consortium (Kidney), The SUO Fellowship Committee and Education Committee, the SWOG Clinical Trials Survivorship Committee, and the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network Steering Committee. She was a co-founder of the Society of Women in Urologic Oncology.  Dr. Psutka is the Senior Editor for the Urologic Oncology Section of the AUA Core Curriculum and is an Associate Editor for European Urology.

Education and Training

Harvard Medical School

Medical Education

Massachusetts General Hospital

Internship, General Surgery

Residency, Urology

Mayo Clinic

Fellowship, Urological Oncology

Northwestern University

Teaching Appointment

Board Certifications

• Urology, 2017, American Board of Urology