Curriculum

The Radiation Oncology residency program at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine consists of six residents. Our program currently has seven full-time and two part-time Radiation Oncology physician faculty at the Stephenson Cancer Center, as well as, two full-time faculty at the VAMC. Resident rotations are divided in 2-3 month blocks by disease site. Each faculty physician specializes and performs research in a specific disease site(s). Residents will rotate equally amongst each faculty throughout training, allowing them to receive expert oversight and education while being exposed to a wide variety of malignancies and treatments. Residents will receive exposure and practice radiation oncology utilizing numerous treatment modalities including LINAC based external beam radiation therapy techniques (2D, 3D, IMRT, VMAT), total body irradiation, Gamma Knife SRS, brain and body stereotactic treatments (SBRT/SRS), various brachytherapy procedures (low and high dose rate brachytherapy, cervical and endometrial brachytherapy, eye plaque, prostate seeds), and the use of unsealed sources. Additionally, residents will have the opportunity to rotate at the VA Medical Center located within walking distance of the Stephenson Cancer Center.

Our core didactic curriculum is a two-year lecture series that incorporates the educational objectives addressed in the ACGME milestones for Radiation Oncology. These didactics are built upon each three-month disease site-specific rotation via clinic-based learning guided by the faculty and informed by each resident’s individualized learning plan. Each rotation has its own goals and objectives, with higher expectations and increasing autonomy granted to the resident with each year that they progress. In addition, we have Physics and Radiation Biology didactics each year.

In a typical week, residents attend three lectures, including a weekly Physics or Radiation Biology lecture. In addition, residents attend daily contour rounds, monthly Journal Club, and quarterly Morbidity and Mortality Conferences. Each resident is assigned a didactic lecture twice a year based on areas for improvement noted on their in-training exam.

We also believe that it is essential to help residents develop professionalism and leadership skills. Caring for cancer patients is an inherently multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary endeavor, and our residents actively participate in many teams to provide the best care for our patients. We include residents on various departmental committees, including the Quality and Safety Committee. Our residents participate in leadership on campus through the Residency Council, and our residents are often actively involved in national organizations such as ARRO and ACRO.

The first year of post-graduate clinical education must be spent in internal medicine, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery or surgical specialties, pediatrics, or a transitional year program, and must include at least nine months of direct patient care in medical and/or surgical specialties other than radiation oncology. The year of clinical education must be followed by 48 months in an ACGME accredited radiation oncology program.

To become board eligible residents must spend a minimum of 36 months in clinical radiation oncology, two months in medical oncology, and one month each in pathology and radiology. Residents may choose to meet these requirements by documented attendance at regularly-scheduled tumor boards (at least four hours per month during the clinical rotations).

Each resident must treat at least 450 patients with external beam radiation therapy, five interstitial and 15 intracavitary brachytherapy procedures. Each resident must treat at least 12 pediatric patients, including at least nine with solid tumors. Each resident must demonstrate the requisite skills in successfully treating at least 20 patients with intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery and at least 10 patients with stereotactic body radiation therapy to the liver, lung, spine, or other extracranial sites. Each resident must demonstrate the requisite knowledge and skills in the administration of at least eight procedures using radioimmunotherapy, other targeted therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, or unsealed sources.