Jafar Al-Mondhiry, MD, MA

Assistant Professor of Medical Education, University of Virginia

Medical Oncologist, Inova Melanoma/Skin Cancer Program

Jafar Al-Mondhiry, MD, MA, is a medical oncologist working at Inova Schar Cancer Institute in Fairfax, VA.  He specializes in the treatment of cutaneous malignancies, including melanoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, advanced squamous cell and basal cell carcinomas, and cutaneous lymphomas. Originally pursuing graduate training in Continental Philosophy and Medical Ethics at Pennsylvania State University, he has maintained a thriving interest in the medical humanities throughout his training and early career.  Particularly areas of interest include issues in medical education, medical history, communication skills training (CST), and palliative/supportive care for patients with advanced cancers. He completed medical school and internal medicine residency training at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and hematology/oncology fellowship training at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center. He holds an assistant professorship appointment for medical education from the University of Virginia, where he teaches medical students, internal medicine residents and hematology/oncology fellows training at the Inova Fairfax medical campus.

Dr. Al-Mondhiry leads the psycho-oncology curriculum for the Inova hematology/oncology fellowship program, engaging fellows in didactic presentations, narrative medicine discussions, CST, and patient support group attendance, highlighting the human aspects of cancer care--both for patients and as emerging oncology professionals. In his spare time, he enjoys podcasting on topics in the medical humanities and creative nonfiction writing, with pieces published in many different outlets for the medical humanities. He is the father of three wonderful (and very little) girls and husband to an amazing physician.