Dr. Xiomara Rocha-Cadman, MD

Xiomara Rocha-Cadman, M.D. is the chief of the Division of Psychiatry and as associate clinical professor in the Department of Supportive Care Medicine .As a child growing up in Nicaragua, Dr. Rocha-Cadman dreamed of becoming a physician. It spoke to her “passion of learning while helping and treating a person as a whole. ”After her sister was diagnosed with cancer at age 26, Dr. Rocha-Cadman decided to focus on psychiatry and especially psycho-oncology, to help alleviate the distress caused by cancer to patients and their families.  Dr. Rocha-Cadman received her medical degree at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara in Mexico and continued her training in surgery at New York’s Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester and switched to psychiatry at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center & Weill Cornell Medical College, where she completed her residency.  She completed her fellowship in Consultation-Liaison/and Psycho-Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) …where she then joined as a faculty member working directly with the Stem Cell Transplant Department. At MSKCC, Dr. Rocha-Cadman was the program director of the renowned Psycho-Oncology fellowship.  While at MSKCC, Dr. Rocha-Cadman focused on the emotional and psychological well-being of her fellows and the nursing staff. She led the BMT nursing support group and the psycho-oncology fellowship support group to cope with death and dying. Since she has been working at City of Hope, Dr Rocha-Cadman has collaborated with ACGME and she leads a group for fellows and trainees called Death and Dying Debriefing Rounds. She has co-led a support group for PT/OT with the collaboration of Spiritual Care and, Reverend Jonathan Stoner. She is currently leading the first Spanish Speaking Caregiver support group with LCSW Krystle Khalaf. Dr. Rocha-Cadman is the chair of the Well-Being Committee at COH and a member of the Ethics Committee. Dr. Rocha-Cadman is a member of the International Psycho-Oncology Society and the American Psycho-Oncology Society. She has been collaborating internationally with psycho-oncologists in Latin America and Spain.As a member of the Department of Supportive Care Medicine, she provides “bedside psychotherapy” for our patients, focusing on those undergoing stem cell transplants, working closely with Spanish-speaking patients, and focusing more attention on psychiatry needs for end-of-life care.  In her free time, she spends quality time with her husband, son and daughter. She enjoys running and hiking. She has completed 7 marathons and has raised money for cancer, hospice, and suicide awareness.