Radiation Oncology Residency

You must successfully complete a preliminary or transitional year, prior to the start of your radiation oncology residency training.

The academic year is divided into six block rotations, during which each resident works solely with one attending. This schedule gives the residents exposure to each disease site several times during their residency. Faculty expectations correlate with each resident’s level of training. Residents are expected to attend tumor boards and conferences with their attending.

A wide variety of weekly departmental conferences are offered for resident education.

• Resident Lecture Series – This year-long, resident-driven lecture series systematically covers the fundamental aspects of the diagnosis, work up and management of cancers in each disease site with special attention given to the pertinent literature. This conference takes place on Tuesday and Friday mornings at 8 a.m.
• Clinical Lecture Series – This year-long, faculty-driven lecture series runs in conjunction with the resident lecture series to allow more detailed discussions regarding treatment planning, surgical techniques, brachytherapy planning and case-based “oral board” style reviews. The lectures are given by both our own faculty as well as faculty from other departments such as urology, neurosurgery, otolaryngology and medical oncology. This conference occurs weekly on Wednesday mornings starting at 8 a.m.
• New Patient Conference – All patients starting treatment over the prior week are presented to the faculty for review of the clinical history and radiation treatment plan. Residents are expected to present the patients of the faculty member with whom they are working. This conference occurs every Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m.
• Physics – This annual course meets twice a week, throughout the year, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. A member of the physics faculty presents the required curriculum through use of PowerPoint lectures.
• Radiation Biology – This annual course meets weekly, throughout the year, on Tuesdays from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The required curriculum is presented through a series of PowerPoint lectures and review of the American Society for Radiation Oncology exam questions.
• Morbidity and Mortality – Residents present patient cases that involved severe adverse events resulting in hospitalization, an unplanned break in treatment, discontinuation of treatment or death. A discussion on strategies for avoiding toxicities, recognizing and managing toxicities and analyzing and correcting any medical errors follows.
• Visiting Faculty Series – Each year the department sponsors four to five experts in Radiation Oncology from other institutions. The guest faculty member typically meets alone with the residents for one to two hours for an educational session in addition to giving a lecture to the department. Recent guest faculty includes Dr. Ellis, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center; Dr. Hoppe, Stanford Cancer Center; Dr. MacDonald, Harvard Medical School; Dr. Movsas, Henry Ford Cancer Institute and Dr. White, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

Our residents have sixth months of protected research time in their fourth year (PGY4) to dedicate to projects of their choosing. We also encourage our residents to get involved with other research projects during their clinical rotations. As part of our resident commitment, we provide full financial support to any resident presenting their work at a national meeting.