Porter Tolkin, MSW

Responsibilities

In my role as an Associate, Clinical Oncology Social Worker, I aim to provide well rounded and holistic, emotional and psychological support to patients and their loved ones that have been effected by cancer. This may include connecting them to our support groups and community resources, as well as nutrition, psychiatric and spiritual support. I find it important to work as a team in patients’ care and will collaborate often with colleagues and medical teams. My goal is to create a comfortable environment that is unique to each patient, caregiver and their needs.

Training and Professional Experience

Upon graduating from the University of San Diego with a degree in Communication and Marketing, I moved to New York City to start my career at a branding agency. After being in NYC for a few years and going from marketing and branding to interior design and architecture recruiting, I decided to move back to Los Angeles and landed a job in movie television post production and marketing. After some great experiences I decided to apply to graduate school and graduated from The Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at The University of Southern California with my Masters in Social Work. During my time at USC I was able to have practicum experience in therapy and in the hospital setting. My first year I served as a therapist at an elementary school and the following year I had the opportunity to be an intern at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, where I was able to work with patients undergoing bone marrow transplants and provide them a wide range of support.

Personal Interests

In my free time I enjoy being outside in nature, staying active, cooking, finding the best chocolate chip cookie, taking pictures on my film camera and other creative things and spending quality time with my friends and family.