Proton rotation as a resident

[Trevica]

Would like some advice:

If I'm pursuing a post-residency job where there are protons, is there utility to doing an away rotation to get experience? Will this experience (and maybe a project) be looked upon favorably by a potential future department/practice...or is it just a trite gesture? If so, is 4 weeks too short? Should I try to do 6 or 8 weeks? I recognize that 4-8 weeks will not make give me a mastery, but is some experience better to none when when being evaluated?

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[Palex80]

It may have to do a lot with what kind of proton treatment you are going to perform in your post-residency job.
If you are going to a center, which doesn't perform very complex treatments, but rather lots of prostate, etc. then 4 weeks may be enough to understand the basics and necessary stuff to treat such cases. Futhermore the case load (patients on treatment) figure is important. In a multi-gantry center you are bound to see a lot more patients in 4 weeks, than in a smaller center.

I spent 6 months in a proton center fellowship and managed to comprehend most of the stuff after the first 2 months.
I felt like I was in another planet during the first couple of weeks.
Since it was a center specializing in scull base and kids, I found myself having to refresh and learn more about diseases I rather seldomly treat nowadays. I didn't see a single prostate case.