| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The core program is a four-year residency following successful completion of a PGY-1 year. The program utilizes the facilities of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Weinberg building in East Baltimore and the Johns Hopkins Radiation Oncology Center at Green Spring Station in Lutherville. Thirty-six to forty-two of the 48 months of residency will be spent in required core clinical rotations.The remaining six to twelve months will be used for elective time, rotations in related specialties (such as medical oncology, oncologic pathology, diagnostic imaging, etc.), and laboratory or clinical research. |
Twelve months of research time will be approved for residents who wish to perform bench research and identify a research plan and a research mentor. An elective rotation in Dosimetry is highly encouraged for all residents in addition to time in dosimetry allotted during some clinical rotations.
|
In the clinics, with the guidance of attending staff, new residents will learn to evaluate patients for radiotherapy. Emphasis will be placed on learning to gather the appropriate information, performance of a directed physical exam, review of diagnostic test results and presentation of the case to the faculty radiation oncologist. Residents will begin to learn the principles of treatment planning and the technical aspects of simulation. Weekly ‘on-treatment’ visits with patients will introduce the resident to the acute effects of treatment and their management. Participation in follow-up clinics will expose the resident to the late effects of treatment and management of complications and recurrences. The second year resident will be expected to be more independent in the simulator, with on-treatment patient management and increase their familiarity with the clinical aspects of brachytherapy. Participation in follow-up clinics will also provide additional experience in on-going patient management. Residents will rotate in all subspecialty areas of radiation oncology over the first three years. Beginning in the second year, residents will also rotate as the inpatient consult resident. The inpatient consult resident will be responsible for evaluating all inpatients consults called in during normal working hours. (The call resident will evaluate inpatient consults in the evenings and on weekends.) The In-Patient Consult resident will staff each case with the appropriate attending based on specialty for non-emergent consults and with the call attending for emergent consults. The In-Patient Consult resident will also attend the Weinberg Multidisciplinary Pain Team grand rounds.
|
|
|
Academic Conferences |
|
|
Academic conferences are held three mornings per week. Monday conference is a didactic lecture given by a resident, radiation oncology faculty or guest faculty focusing on the “Disease of the Month”. Tuesday and Thursday conferences are case presentations by a resident with discussion lead by the attending physician. The weekly Peer Review conference is held each Wednesday morning in the Weinberg building. The Green Spring Station Peer Review conference is held on Monday afternoons and includes the resident on rotation at that facility. Radiation Oncology Journal Club is held on one evening per month, from 5:30 - 6:30 PM. Two recent articles pertinent to the field are presented by residents and discussed with faculty.
Oncology Center Grand Rounds (including medical, pediatric, hematologic and radiation oncology) are held weekly on Friday mornings and Oncology Center Journal Clubs (including statistics instruction) also occur weekly. Translational Research Conference is also held weekly in the Oncology Center. Attendance at academic sessions is required unless the resident is rotating outside the institution or in non-radiation oncology electives. Residents will also be expected to participate in tumor board conferences according to the clinical service on which they are rotating. Physics and radiobiology classes are held for the PGY2 residents twice weekly from September through May.
|
| |
|
Travel To Conferences |
|
Residents are encouraged to prepare research projects for presentation at regional and national scientific societies. Travel to meetings for presentations is fully funded (overseas airfares may only be partially funded). In addition, each resident is funded to attend one national meeting during the four-year residency program.
|
|
|
Resident Research Projects |
|
| |
|
|
|
Each resident is expected to be involved with at least one research project during the program (whether or not a research elective is chosen). This may take the form of a retrospective chart review, case report and literature review or development of a clinical research protocol or bench research project. Generally, more junior residents will be involved with retrospective reviews. These reviews will also serve as the basis for practice-based improvement analyses. More senior residents may choose to become involved in basic science research or prospective protocol development. Each resident will be required to present at least one of their projects in poster form at the annual SKCC Fellows Research Day event. |
| |
|
Examples of some recent/ongoing resident projects. |
| |
|
|
|
Resources and Equipment |
|
Residents will be provided with an individual set of texts on general oncology, radiation oncology, radiation physics and radiobiology upon their arrival. Selected reference materials are maintained within the resident office. Staff files, journals and texts are also generally available for resident use. The Welch Medical Library is available for resident use. The Welch Library maintains an extensive on-line journal collection, which can be accessed over the Internet. Residents may also have articles electronically requested and delivered through the Welch Web service and PubMed.
Each resident is provided with a laptop computer for use during the four-year residency period and a fixed docking station in the resident offices with access to the division Web/Intranet service and the Internet. Programs for word processing, spreadsheet formatting, PowerPoint presentations, etc. are available on each computer. Residents are encouraged to participate in the Internet Radiation Oncology Journal Club. Residents will be provided with instruction in the use of OCIS (Oncology Center Information Service) and EPR (the Hopkins’ electronic patient record) during new resident orientation.
Between the Weinberg and the Green Spring Station facilities, the department has 5 linear accelerators, 2 stereotactic linear accelerator based units, a Gamma Knife, a Helical Tomotherapy Unit, HDR brachytherapy (including a shielded OR for intraoperative HDR treatment), two CT-simulators (including a large-bore helical scanner) and a fluoroscopic simulator housed in nearly 30,000 square feet. The LINACs are fitted with multileaf collimators and electronic portal imaging capability. Laboratory space is located in the Cancer Research Building across the street from the Weinberg Building, with a second research building under construction. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Leave Policy |
|
|
In keeping with the requirements of the American Board of Radiology training requirements, twenty workdays of leave (including vacation and sick leave) are authorized during each year of residency. Typically, the maximum amount of leave taken during any single rotation should not exceed 5 workdays.
|
|
|
Work-Hour Regulations
|
|
|
The residency program complies with the ACGME regulations governing resident work hours. Time spent in the clinic/hospital performing patient care counts towards the 80-hour/week maximum. The most recent survey of Hopkins’ house staff indicated the average number of hours worked weekly by the Radiation Oncology residents was 62. Work hours are tracked via a web-based two-way pager system. Call is taken by beeper from home in one-week blocks. New residents do not participate in the call rotation for their first two months of training.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
