From the inception of his practice in Savannah in 1980, Ayer Bala has pursued a patient-focused approach to cancer care. Originally trained in his native India, Bala graduated at the top of his class at Calicut Medical College. While in India, he held teaching and supervisory positions including oversight of a 500-bed hospital, in addition to his private practice. After arriving in the United States in 1974, he began six years of advanced training at Jamaica Hospital and the Brooklyn VA Hospital in New York. During this time, he also completed a hematology fellowship at Nassau Hospital in Minola, N.Y., and a hematology/oncology fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga. Bala is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Georgia Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Internal Medicine, the Georgia Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He began private practice in Savannah in 1980 and joined Summit Cancer Care in 1994.