Matthew J. Farrell, MD

Dr. Matthew Farrell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He grew up in Sacramento and studied film and creative writing at Stanford University, graduating with Distinction. He earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Oregon, where he taught undergraduate courses and wrote a collection of short stories for his thesis. Realizing that much of his creative work explored illness and, more specifically, oncology, he decided to pursue a career in medicine. He completed medical school at Oregon Health & Science University, an internship in internal medicine at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, and residency training in radiation oncology at UCLA.

In the clinic, he is a proponent of person-centered oncology. He knows that everyone has a story, and he works together with patients and their families to create individualized treatment plans that reflect their goals.

His academic interests include narrative medicine, health humanities, health-related quality of life, and JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion). In addition to authoring scientific manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, he has published essays, poems, and stories in JAMA, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Practical Radiation Oncology, and other academic and literary journals.

Committed to medical education, he serves as an Associate Residency Program Director of the UCLA Radiation Oncology Residency Program, and he teaches narrative medicine to medical students and residents. He lives with his wife, who is an internal medicine physician, and their son.