Curriculum & Board Preparation

Thirty-four to 36 of the 48 months of residency will be spent in required core clinical rotations. The remaining months will be used for elective time and laboratory or clinical research. Ten months are dedicated for professional development time/ research for third year residents with the option to extend to 12 months. This may be used for research, either clinical or basic. Alternatively, this time can be utilized for advancing other domains of knowledge either within radiation oncology or for other areas such as palliative care or population health.

Teaching Format

Teaching is carried out through didactic lectures, clinics and numerous teaching conferences, with emphasis on patient care, under the supervision of full-time faculty. Elective time is spent in related oncological specialties to promote the multidisciplinary concept of managing cancer patients. The department enjoys state-of-the-art equipment and operates several sites both on- and off- campus, which include: a main facility in the Gudelsky Tower of the University of Maryland Medical Center, the Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC) in downtown Baltimore, the Central Maryland Radiation Oncology center in Columbia, the Kaufman Cancer Center at UM Upper Chesapeake Health in Bel Air, the Tate Cancer Center at UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, and the Requard Radiation Oncology Center at UM Shore Regional Health in Easton. The majority (90%) of training is completed at UMMC and MPTC with select rotations at community sites.

There are many intradepartmental and interdepartmental conferences and tumor boards to attend. It is essential to the success of our teaching program that our residents attend all departmental conferences and all interdepartmental conferences appropriate for each rotation. They are designed to teach all levels of trainee, and accomplish important patient care functions on a daily basis. Residents are blocked from clinical duties during all teaching conferences.

We have 22 members of the clinical faculty in the Department of Radiation Oncology, including 15 full-time and 7 part-time faculty, all of whom are invested in the residency program. 

Click here for a Sample Teaching Conference Schedule

A few highlights from our teaching format include the following:

• Attending lectures
• Clinical talks (topic-based)
• Case presentations (focused on background/workup or on management of disease)
• Visiting Professors (four to six per year)
• Dedicated mock orals
• Guest attending lectures
• Morbidity and mortality conferences
• Journal Club (clinical and biological)
• Patient Centered Communication (PEP) workshops
• Physics lecture series
• Radiation biology lecture series
• Designated biostatistics sessions (1x/ month)
• Technology rounds
• Hands-on brachytherapy workshop
• Hands-on hyperthermia workshop
• Simulation workshop such as fiberoptic flexible nasopharyngoscopy at the MASTRI Center
• Jeopardy (board-exam style questions as content)

And, the University of Maryland Hyperthermia Therapy Practice School:

Board Preparation

Every resident in our training program practices a series of “mock” oral examinations as part of their training. After graduation, residents are invited back to the University of Maryland for a dedicated internal mock orals review with faculty disease site experts prior to taking their oral board exam.

In addition, the University of Maryland Department of Radiation Oncology sponsors a national Physics and Radiobiology Review Course every year. The course is designed for residents preparing for their board exams as well as radiation oncology physicians preparing for their re-certification exams.

Residents also have the opportunity to participate in the didactic lecture portion of the University of Maryland Department of Radiation Oncology national Mock Orals Course. This course simulates a radiation oncology oral board examination with internal and external disease-site experts reviewing high yield cases and providing practical tips. 

Each year, residents are invited to the Radiation Oncology Symposium - Best of course. This is a CME accredited course that provides the attendees with the new changes in technology and treatment modalities that have occurred in the past year. This includes the latest developments in treating the following cancers: genitourinary, head & neck, central nervous system/pediatrics, gynecologic, gastrointestinal, breast, thoracic/SBRT and lymphoma. Residents are given access to the didactics from each of these national courses.

Third- and fourth-year residents are given the opportunity to attend the ASTRO Annual Refresher Course, and attendance is sponsored and supported by the department. 

From September through May, all residents are granted protected time to attend the dedicated physics lecture series and the radiation and cancer biology lecture series conducted by our own internal faculty experts as well as faculty from other institutions in preparation for their boards. To view sample schedules, please click below.

Sample Physics Lecture Schedule

Sample Radiobiology Lecture Schedule

Annual In-Training Examination

The American College of Radiology administers an in-training examination to residents in Radiation Oncology annually. We require all residents to take this examination. 

The main purpose of this examination is to help gauge residents’ abilities to study systematically and consistently. These skills are important not only for passing certification boards on the first try, but also for continued expansion of knowledge throughout their careers and for recertification years later.

The global results of the examination will also be used to gauge the effectiveness of the training program. Areas of consistent deficiency will be addressed by the Education Committee, resulting in improved teaching at multiple levels, including, but not limited to, new or improved didactic lectures, new conference formats, new distribution of cases, or other modifications, as appropriate.

The in-training examination is not used as a sole measure of a resident’s success. We do expect our residents to perform above the national average, however, scores are always considered in context with many other measures of residence performance. In-training examination scores will never be the sole factor for failing to promote a resident to the next level of training or for expulsion from the program.