Radiation Oncology

A chief objective of the Department of Radiation Oncology is to present the basic fundamentals of oncology (including, but not exclusively, radiation oncology) to all students as they progress through medical school. Working together with surgeons and medical oncologists, the multidisciplinary management of patients is stressed at all times.

First-year students may spend their Tuesday afternoon elective time in the department with one of the staff radiation oncologists. This elective is a valuable way to gain an introduction to clinical medicine and oncology cases, in particular.

Third year students may visit the Department of Radiation Oncology as part of their clinical specialties rotation. During this visit they are introduced to the principles of radiation oncology. They observe patients in the clinic and patients undergoing treatment on the radiation machines.

Fourth year students are encouraged to take an elective in clinical radiotherapy, during which they participate in initial patient workups and management decisions regarding patients under the close direction of faculty.

Students on rotation on the medicine service also learn radiotherapy by making rounds on the hematology/oncology service, and by attending didactic lectures.

The staff treats patients from the entire Boston area who suffer from all different types of malignant disease and at all stages of disease. The department is well equipped with the most modern linear accelerators and has a full range of radiotherapeutic services, including very high energy X rays, an electron beam, and both interstitial and intracavitary radium (or its equivalent).

In addition to the regular clinical care of patients, the department has active research programs in all of its divisions (clinical, physics, radiation and cancer biology), with a special interest in the molecular biology of carcinogenesis. The physics division has an extensive interest in the use of computers for treatment planning and medical record-keeping.