Radiation oncology is a medical specialty that focuses on treating oncology patients with radiation. Both pediatric and adult patients are treated in the practice of radiation oncology.
The majority of these patients have a malignancy, which may be involving any site or organ system. A limited number of patients are treated for benign conditions. The typical practice setting is a hospital-based community or academic practice. External beam therapy with either a photon beam or an electron beam, focused on the site of the tumor, is most commonly utilized. Brachytherapy (or implanting a radioactive source directly in the tumor) is also employed in a smaller portion of patients.
Residency Training
- Duration of training: Five years (internship plus 4 years)
- Number of programs nationally: 91 programs (2020)
- Number of entering residency positions per year: 189 (for PGY2 in 2020)
- Types of fellowships or subspecialties: Several fellowships and no subspecialties. There are no board certifications for completing a fellowship
- Type of Match: Regular
- Overall competitiveness:
- This has historically been a difficult match for the "average" student, but has become less competitive over the last several matching cycles
Primary Faculty Contact for M1s and M2s
Clerkship Program Director: Dr. Michelle Kim
michekim@umich.edu
734-647-3142
Clerkship Program Coordinator: Samantha Harbarcuk
harbars@med.umich.edu
734-647-3142
Medical Student Club or Interest Group
Radiation Oncology Student Interest Group: Neil Vaishampayan neilvee@med.umich.edu
(Facilitators: 1-2 medical students each academic year)
(Advisors: Chief Residents each academic year)
2023-2024 Chief Residents: Dr. Daniel Herr, Dr. Donna Edwards, Dr. Jamie Takayesu
Shadowing or Mentoring Experiences Available to M1s or M2s
Clerkship Program Director: Dr. Michelle Kim
michekim@umich.edu
734-936-7810
Clerkship Program Coordinator: Samantha Harbarcuk
harbars@med.umich.edu
734-647-3142
Resources
- U-M Department of Radiation Oncology
- American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
- The American Board of Radiology
- American Society of Clinical Oncology
- Radiation Oncology Virtual Education Rotation (ROVER) (radoncvirtual.com)
Suggested Journals, Books & Information for Interested Students
- International Journal on Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics
- Journal of Clinical Oncology
- Cancer Principles and Practice of Oncology, DeVita, Lawrence, Rosenberg (eds)
- Gunderson and Tepper’s Clinical Radiation Oncology (5th ed)
- Principles and Practice of Radiation Oncology, Perez and Brady (eds)
- Essentials of Clinical Radiation Oncology (2nd Ed), Sarah M.C. Sittenfeld, Matthew C. Ward, Rahul D. Tendulkar, Gregory M. M. Videtic
- Handbook of Evidence-Based Radiation Oncology [Paperback] (3rd Ed)
- Eric K. Hansen and Mack Roach III, Springer Publishing