Curriculum

Transitional year (PGY-1)

The transitional year for radiation oncology residents is integrated into the radiation oncology residency match. Residents that match into our residency program are designated a transitional year spot at Beaumont Health. The transitional year is meant to provide a well-structured clinical curriculum to prepare residents for subsequent radiation oncology training. Rotations are chosen by the transitional year program director in collaboration with the radiation oncology program director. During the 12 months, rotations for radiation oncology transitional year residents include

• emergency medicine
  
• medical oncology
  
• pediatric oncology
  
• head & neck oncology 
  
• urologic oncology 
  
• general Surgery
  
• Acute Care Clinic (Internal Medicine)
  
• inpatient internal medicine 
  
• medical Intensive care unit
  
• research Elective 
  
• other electives may include: pathology, nuclear medicine

For more information, visit the Beaumont Transitional Year, Royal Oak.

First year Radiation Oncology (PGY-2)

During the first year in Radiation Oncology, residents participate in direct patient care, from initial consultation to treatment and follow-up, under the direct supervision of attending staff. Residents rotate from one staff physician service to another, generally at three month intervals. This includes a rotation at one of our clinical sites outside of the Royal Oak campus. This insures a broad exposure to the various areas of attending staff specialization in Radiation Oncology. Integrated within the 12 months of clinical training will be required didactic lecture series in radiation biology and radiation physics, as well as participation in clinical teaching conferences and journal clubs.

Second year Radiation Oncology (PGY-3)

During the second year of clinical training in radiation oncology, the residents continue to build on their clinical skills from the time of initial consultation to treatment and follow-up. This includes rotations at one of our other clinical sites. During rotations at clinical sites outside of Royal Oak, the resident will focus only on inpatient and outpatient consultations and perform simulations and treatment planning, without on-treatment visits or follow-up visits. This maximizes the resident experience in seeing a large variety and volume of patients. Integrated within the 12 months of clinical training will be required didactic lecture series in radiation biology and radiation physics, as well as participation in clinical teaching conferences and journal clubs.

Third year Radiation Oncology (PGY-4)

The third year of training (12 months) is dedicated to basic science research in physics or radiobiology supervised by a radiobiology and/or physics mentor, a physician mentor, as well as the Program Director and Chair of the Department, with regular meetings scheduled to review research progress. Research residents also participate in clinical research during this time. Residents participate in regular didactics during this year, which include teaching conferences, resident and guest lectures, journal clubs, physics class (if required), and radiation biology class. 

Fourth year Radiation Oncology (PGY-5)

During the fourth year of training in radiation oncology, residents are placed on a six month rotation designated as the "senior service". This includes time spent at Royal Oak, as well as our Troy and/or Dearborn clinical sites. This service is designed to provide residents maximal responsibility in the work-up and management of their assigned patients. All treatment decisions and patient care on the senior service are the responsibility of the senior resident under the direction of the supervising attending physician. This experience is designed to facilitate the transition from senior resident to practicing radiation oncologist. It is unique to our institution and highly valued by the residents. Senior residents continue to participate in clinical teaching conferences and journal clubs, but are not required to attend physics or radiation biology lectures. 

Radiation Oncology didactics

The Radiation Oncology training program includes core curricular didactics in clinical oncology, radiation biology, and radiation physics. There is protected didactic time scheduled throughout the four year training program. Core curriculum is taught by physicians within the department, physicists, biophysicists, radiation biologists, and guest lecturers. In addition, each resident presents two comprehensive sixty minute didactic lectures per year on topics of interest in the field of Radiation Oncology.

Clinical teaching conferences

Multiple teaching conferences are held throughout each month. These focus on each of the clinical sites in oncology, with a focus on a particular cancer during each session. Educational discussions are individualized and cover epidemiology, pathology, staging, natural history, anatomy, radiation doses and treatment planning techniques, possible treatment complications, tumor control, and survival statistics. Pertinent literature is discussed, including retrospective, prospective, and randomized studies. 

Radiation Oncology conducts monthly morbidity and mortality rounds as well, where residents present pertinent cases along with a discussion of available literature on each topic. Discussions are held with residents and attending physicians.