ASTRO Elections 2022: What are your thoughts on the candidates?

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President nominees:

Phillip M. Devlin, MD, FASTRO
Dana Farber Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center
Harvard Medical School, Boston​

Howard Sandler, MD, MS, FASTRO
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles​

Secretary or treasurer nominees:

Michael Kuettel, MD, PhD, MBA, FASTRO
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Buffalo, New York​

Amar Rewari, MD, MBA
Luminis Health
Annapolis, Maryland​

Education council vice chair:

Lisa Kachnic, MD, FASTRO
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
New York​

Chelsea Pinnix, MD, PhD
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston​

 

[medgator]

Howard, Amar, Chelsea.

But it's probably just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic at this point

Disclosure: non voting former member

 

[Baws]

Howard
Amar (this one is close)
Chelsea (After the ASTRO meeting about boards a few years ago, I am uncertain why Lisa Kachnic is running)

Commentary on: Thoughts on the American Board of Radiology Examinations and the Resident Experience in Radiation Oncology - PubMed

Commentary on: Thoughts on the American Board of Radiology Examinations and the Resident Experience in Radiation Oncology

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[RSAOaky]

1) Howard
2) Don't Know Don't Care
3) Anyone not named Kachnic

 

[deleted1111261]

Out of curiosity, why Howard ?

 

[jondunn]

can Lisa please be put out to pasture

I can't vote as I don't pay dues, but I hope my brothas and sistas (@thecarbonionangle )here will end LISA

 

[metallica81788]

I've been debating ending my ASTRO membership for many months (and probably still should), but if Kachnic wins this I am certainly out

 

[jondunn]

If Kachnic wins, I will start paying dues to ASCO.

 

[RadOncDoc21]

You know this means she will win.

 

[RSAOaky]

Out of curiosity, why Howard ?

He's the only one of the two I know personally and he's a mensch.

 

[fiji128]

I’m still a member of Astro, mostly for the easy but relevant cme options it gives me, which I get time off for to take. I almost never vote in these elections unless I personally know a candidate. They all come from the same pool of academic insiders as far as I can tell. Kachnic as a candidate for education is a great example of how out of touch/tone deaf Astro can be, like just why run her?

 

[thecarbonionangle]

i actually voted against Sandler. I don’t care if he is pretty pretty good or not. He leads a newish department which was never needed and that turns me incredibly anti. Kudos to the underground campaign to get Pinnix on ballot. Im wearing my pink chelsey pussi hat today. Vote early and vote often!!!

 

[Neuronix]

I've heard nice things about Sandler but got turned off when I talked to him about a job there years ago. The discussion did not have the vision I'd like to see from president of ASTRO. This is code for he thought my research was dumb. TAKE THAT I'M NOT VOTING FOR YOU! 😭

 

[fiji128]

Is there anything anywhere that says why these folks are running and what they are hoping to accomplish/vision? I get the impression it’s basically just a professional popularity contest.

 

[deleted1111261]

Is there anything anywhere that says why these folks are running and what they are hoping to accomplish/vision? I get the impression it’s basically just a professional popularity contest.

There seems to be a very limited pathway to move forward in the organization.

It's a "track" and you can't really hop on to it. Have to start low, do committee work, becoming named as something blah blah blah. People here, like @Chartreuse Wombat can explain it better.

But, it is by no means a democratic organization (I don't think most of these societies are). Even if I didn't think so poorly of the organization, I would not want to be part of that track. It seems awful inbred and not open to outside thinking.

 

[fiji128]

There seems to be a very limited pathway to move forward in the organization.

It's a "track" and you can't really hop on to it. Have to start low, do committee work, becoming named as something blah blah blah. People here, like @Chartreuse Wombat can explain it better.

But, it is by no means a democratic organization (I don't think most of these societies are). Even if I didn't think so poorly of the organization, I would not want to be part of that track. It seems awful inbred and not open to outside thinking.

That’s the impression I get. It’s like “voting” for a candidate in China or something. Not sure I see the point. By voting I think they are just hoping to give the whole thing some veil of legitimacy.

 

[Chartreuse Wombat]

That’s the impression I get. It’s like “voting” for a candidate in China or something. Not sure I see the point. By voting I think they are just hoping to give the whole thing some veil of legitimacy.

Years ago I asked ASTRO to publicly disclose vote numbers. Embarassingly low participation rate.

 

[medgator]

Years ago I asked ASTRO to publicly disclose vote numbers. Embarassingly low participation rate.

I'm curious how membership numbers have done compared with how many are in the specialty as a whole. I know many who are no longer members outside of academics

 

[RSAOaky]

I'm curious how membership numbers have done compared with how many are in the specialty as a whole. I know many who are no longer members outside of academics

The whole system is a racket.

During my contract renegotiations I had a conversation with my chairman that went like this:
Chairman: "Are you a member of ASTRO?"
RSAOaky: "No, I'm a member of ACRO though as I feel it's more in line with my beliefs"
Chairman: "I'd like you to become a member of ASTRO"

The CME allowance given to employees and residents of academic institutions is just a way to legally funnel money into the ol' boys' club. When we talk about conflicts of interest, this is a prime example. The organization that is responsible for lobbying for our field as a whole directly benefits from changes that are detrimental to us as individual physicians (consolidation, academic favoritism, physician oversupply).

 

[evilbooyaa]

1) Either would be fine, Howard if for nothing more than support the (slightly) littler guy between Haaahvahd and Cedars.
2) Don't care, but Simul likes Rewari, which is good enough for me.
3) Very glad Kachnic is not running unopposed as it was. I expect Kachnic will get buried in a landslide. But who knows.

 

[kimplera]

Candidates are selected by the nominating committee, from a list of candidates who are nominated by membership. This is typically from people who have chaired lower committees in the past.
Some of the elected positions don't require a ballot with >1 candidate (per bylaws). i've been told in that there was only one candidate nominated for a particular position several years ago - i know with 100% certainty that this was not the case.
Nominating committee tries to rotate candidates from different areas (private practice, academics or at least for the science council - MD, PhD- biology, PhD-physics).

 

[RickyScott]

Heard that there was some pressure on the mdacc program director to run for the education position?

 

[deleted1111261]

From what I understand there was not not pressure 🙂

 

[jondunn]

Heard that there was some pressure on the mdacc program director to run for the education position?

Lot of pressure.

Lisa has many enemies, rightly so

 

[thecarbonionangle]

I think the fact that the resistance put together a candidate to hopefully crush LK’s “education” candidacy gives me some hope although i remain skeptical of many ivory tower “academics”, in general

 

[NotMattSpraker]

I think the fact that the resistance put together a candidate to hopefully crush LK’s “education” candidacy gives me some hope although i remain skeptical of many ivory tower “academics”, in general

Voting is important. I hope people that are still members vote in this year's election.

 

[jondunn]

If Lisa loses, I’ll sign back up for Astro

 

[RadOncDoc21]

I still need to see more action from ASTRO.

 

[evilbooyaa]

If Lisa loses, I’ll sign back up for Astro

Laughed, but what a low bar we've reached.. it's in the basement just like most RO departments.

 

[RO28]

I'm still a member (though not paying again) and I voted. As someone who was impacted by the 2018 debacle, down with LK.

 

[Neuronix]

Just got my ballet.

I wrote in for Simul on most of them since I don't know most of the candidates personally. Simul if you are elected I wish you much luck as Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (HEDI) Council Chair, Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (HEDI) Council Vice-chair, and/or Clinical Affairs and Quality Council Vice-chair.

Education vice-chair Pinnix. Not that I know Dr. Pinnix--but Kachnic? Seriously?!