Radiation Oncology Residency: The Clinical Experience

A strong clinical oncology experience is fostered by the one-on-one relationship between staff physicians and residents during their rotations. Teaching is emphasized by radiation oncology case conferences, daily multidisciplinary case conferences with the FCCC departments of surgical oncology, medical oncology, radiology and pathology, a multi-disciplinary research lecture series, and didactic lectures given by faculty, residents, and staff.  Overall, about 6 hours per week are dedicated to resident education.  This clinical and didactic training may be enhanced by off-site clinical elective rotations or translational research in our division of radiation physics or biology with a multitude of opportunities in world class benchtop research at the center.

The department has established a national and international reputation in the treatment of breast, prostate, gastrointestinal, lung, head and neck, and gynecologic malignancies

The department has established a national and international reputation in the treatment of breast, prostate, gastrointestinal, lung, head and neck, and gynecologic malignancies. We are also committed to participation in national cooperative group trials sponsored by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), and the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) (collectively, the NRG) and ECOG-ACRIN cooperative groups. Approximately 2,000 consultations and 4,000 follow-up visits are seen by FCCC staff each year. The department has approximately 120 patients under treatment each day.

Patients seen in consultation or under treatment by a staff physician are evaluated initially by the resident. Patients are treated with a variety of radiation modalities and techniques, including intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT and VMAT), stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), brachytherapy via high-dose rate (HDR) implants and CivaSheets, SIR-Sphere microspheres, and pulsed low-dose rate radiotherapy (PLDR). Additional non-radiation modalities employed in the department include high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and tumor treating fields (TTF).

Rotations

Typically, residents have eight 3-month rotations within the department during their PGY2-3 years. The PGY-4 year is dedicated to 12 months of basic science or clinical research and administrative chief resident duties. PGY-5 residents have three months set aside for outside rotations in pediatrics and other electives.  Each year, residents take part in the clinical in-service self-assessment examination given by the American College of Radiology.

Schedule

Residents and attendings hold morning conferences two to three days a week, 8-9 am, to discuss general oncology and radiation oncology topics. Every Thursday morning, residents actively participate in the department’s chart rounds. Residents attend one or more of the daily one-hour clinical multidisciplinary case conferences (tumor boards). Current cases are reviewed and discussed with the surgical and medical oncologists, pathologists and radiologists. The typical tumor board schedule:

The radiation department holds regular journal club and morbidity/mortality.

Residents are on-call by long-range beeper with an attending for a one-week period approximately every eight weeks. While on-call, the resident is responsible for after-hours patient calls (first triaged by the hospital nursing coordinator) and emergency consultations and treatments.

Clinical Attending Physicians

The clinical division of our department consists of eight radiation oncologists with site-specific clinical and research responsibilities. The resident will spend one or more three-month rotations over a four-year period working on a one-to-one basis with each staff member.

• Eric M. Horwitz, MD
  Chair, Radiation Oncology 
  Attending Physician - Genitourinary Malignancies
• Penny R. Anderson, MD
  Vice Chair for Quality Assurance and Process Improvement Professor and Attending Physician, Breast and Gynecologic Malignancies
• Randi J. Cohen, MD, MS
  Director, Fox Chase East Norriton Campus
  Associate Professor and Attending Physician
• Thomas J. Galloway, MD
  Director, Clinical Research Associate Professor and Attending Physician, Head & Neck and Cutaneous Malignancies
• Shelly B. Hayes, MD
  Director, Fox Chase Buckingham Radiation Therapy Facility
  Associate Professor and Attending Physician
• Mark A. Hallman, MD, PhD
  Assistant Professor and Attending Physician, Thoracic and Genitourinary Malignancies and Lymphoma
• Krisha J. Howell, MD
  Clinical Director of Radiation Oncology
  Assistant Professor and Attending Physician, Sarcoma and Gynecologic Malignancies
• Sameera Kumar, MD
  Assistant Professor and Attending Physician
• Joshua E. Meyer, MD
  Vice Chair of Translational Research
  Co-Leader, GI Service Line
  Associate Professor and Attending Physician, Gastrointestinal and Thoracic Malignancies
• Mark L. Sobczak, MD
  Associate Professor and Attending  Physician, Genitourinary Malignancies
• Stephanie E. Weiss, MD
  Director, Radiation Oncology Residency and Fellowship Training Program
  Chief, Division of Neurologic Oncology
  Associate Professor and Attending Physician, CNS and Breast Malignancies
• Jessica Karen Wong, MD, MEng
  Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology
  Assistant Director, Radiation Oncology Residency and Fellowship Training Program