Radiation Oncology

The University of Chicago Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology offers a four-year residency program in Radiation Oncology. The residency meets all the requirements of the American Board of Radiology (ABR) and is fully accredited by the American Medical Association's Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The residency program is accredited for a total of 12 positions with three openings available annually. Candidates begin at the PGY-2 level and proceed through the PGY-5 level. The program does not routinely offer PGY-1 (internship) positions. Candidates are thus responsible for applying for and completing an internship at an accredited hospital. Internships can be done in a variety of fields including Internal Medicine or Surgery. Transitional programs are also acceptable.

There are three clinical years of the program. PGY-2 residents begin residency with a one-week orientation course in Clinical Radiation Oncology, Radiation Physics, and Radiobiology. PGY-3 residents continue clinical training on more advanced services.  The PGY-4 training year is dedicated to research - either basic science or clinical outcomes and trial development.  During the PGY-5 year, one or more residents are designated as Chief Resident(s) and participate in administrative and supervisory responsibilities. Residents are placed on a rotating on-call schedule (generally, one week of on-call responsibilities every 8 weeks) and cover emergency consultations at the University of Chicago Medicine and the University of Illinois Hospital under attending staff supervision.

The residency is a multi-institutional program and enjoys the combined resources of two medical centers in the metropolitan Chicago area: The University of Chicago Medicine (UCM) and the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System (UI Health). Residents currently rotate at the University of Chicago Medicine and the University of Illinois Hospital. There are four rotations per year (July-September, October-December, January-March, and April-June), with residents spending 3 months on each service. Faculty from additional UCM network hospitals give resident lectures and participate in morning conferences.

Residents and faculty work closely on clinical services. Residents are encouraged early on to take a leading role in the care of their patients. Residents attend weekly multidisciplinary tumor boards for their service.  Institutional tumor boards include breast, head and neck, chest, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecologic, lymphoma, pediatric, and musculoskeletal.  All tumor boards are attended by pathologists and radiologists making these extremely useful multi-disciplinary learning opportunities.

Residents have access to the University of Chicago Library's electronic journal collection providing extensive e-journal and e-textbook reserves.  Residents are provided with an annual book fund stipend.  Additionally, all incoming PGY-2 residents receive a five-year subscription to www.RadOncQuestions.com, a comprehensive multiple-choice question bank developed in part by University of Chicago faculty.

At the Departmental Monday Morning Conference, residents prepare and present selected cases to the attending staff. These conferences are run by the chairman, Dr. Weichselbaum, and the attending physician who treats the specific disease site being presented. Following an overview of the workup and diagnosis, the patient's management is discussed. The appropriate radiotherapeutic, chemotherapeutic, and surgical literature is then critically reviewed. Lastly, the patient’s radiation treatment plan is reviewed.  The broad nature of the conference exemplifies the program's goal to train residents as "oncologists first and radiotherapists second."

The Tuesday Conference is run by residents or faculty.  Each session focuses on a particular disease sub-site.  Additionally, invited lecturers from other departments speak to the residents to supplement their education.  The residents also participate in boards-review sessions focused on the major sub-sites to prepare for the oral boards, treatment planning seminars, and mock oral boards.  The didactic schedule is organized around "disease months" ensuring coverage of all major tumor sites during the academic year.

Chart Rounds are held weekly to review the management of all patients beginning a treatment course. Residents present the patient's history summarizing the planned therapy at these conferences.  Additionally, Journal Club is held over dinner to discuss recent seminal articles approximately once per quarter.  A Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) conference is held quarterly. During this weekly conference, Residents and Attendings discuss cases that resulted in toxicity.

In addition to clinical seminars, residents attend weekly physics lectures and monthly radiation biology seminars given by faculty in the department.  These lectures are designed to teach fundamental topics to prepare residents to pass their Radbio/Physics boards after their PGY-4 year.  Residents also participate in dosimetry workshops to learn the nuances of radiation treatment planning in a simulated environment.

Departmental research seminars are presented monthly by the attending staff, physicists, and radiobiologists. Topics range from review of issues in biology to presentations of a faculty member's current research.  This seminar series fosters interaction and cooperation between the clinical and basic science faculty. The Department arranges periodic visits from noted Radiation Oncologists, Physicists and Biologists from outside the University of Chicago. All visitors meet with the residents and present seminars to the department as a whole.

Twice per year the chief residents coordinate a visiting professor.  The visiting professor attends case conference and helps to guide the discussion, meets with the residents for a teaching session, joins the residents for lunch to discuss career goals and plans, and then gives a departmental presentation.

All residents are encouraged to participate in research during their residency.  Past projects have resulted in presentations at ASTRO, ASCO, and other national meetings.  In addition, residents are encouraged to develop novel clinical research protocols with the guidance of a faculty mentor.  Residents are reimbursed annually for expenses to attend national meetings at which they are presenting research.  Senior residents are also reimbursed for all expenses of at least one national oncology meeting.

A focus of the University of Chicago Residency program is on research and academia. The entire PGY-4 year is thus devoted to research.  There are currently 2 research pathways — either basic science or clinical research.  Due to the wide variety of research and ample laboratories in the department, many residents opt to work under the supervision of one of the department's faculty. As shown in the Faculty Section, the research interests of the department's medical, physics, and biology faculty cover a wide spectrum. Residents have also worked in University of Chicago laboratories outside the department.

Residents also have the option to pursue clinical research during their PGY-4 year in which they obtain a Master of Science in Public Health Studies for Clinical Professionals (MSCP).  Residents can also choose to complete the Summer Program in Outcomes Research Training (SPORT) independent from the MSCP or to jumpstart the MSCP. Recent senior residents have been recipients of prestigious fellowships from the American Cancer Society (ACS), American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

During the PGY-4 year residents also can take advantage of unique opportunities offered by the University of Chicago.  These include the University of Chicago MacLean Center for Medical Ethics part-time fellowship and the Medical Education Research, Innovation, Teaching and Scholarship (MERITS) GME medical education fellowship.  These programs are part-time and can be done in conjunction with work in bench or clinical research if approved by the residency committee.

A unique aspect of our program is that residents have the opportunity to spend a total of 12 weeks outside the department ("offsite rotations") during their final clinical year. Residents use this time to gain further experience in a variety of areas and to supplement their clinical skills.

Many program graduates have pursued careers in academic radiation oncology. Institutions with University of Chicago alumni include Duke University, Mallinckrodt (Washington University), University of California San Francisco, University of California San Diego, University of Maryland, Georgetown, and the Mayo Clinic. A number of recent graduates have remained at the University of Chicago and are current faculty. Others have chosen private practice and presently work at centers throughout the country. Read a full list of alumni job placements.