Just curious if anyone has a top 10 or rankings for programs with the best education system in place for residents (i.e. regardless of program prestige or how smart residents tend to be at the beginning, which residents get the best radonc education).
Best radonc residency for education
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I would take a look at the radonc rankings thread (stickied). Most posts there include a bit of discussion on those aspects (as well as prestige, location, etc.). From what I saw on the interview trail, Henry Ford, Case Western, Jefferson, and Maryland would have to be included in any discussion of programs with the best education.
D
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Really hard to answer that question objectively, as most residents only get their training at one program (a few transfer midstream), and because the pass rates on the exams are so high. You may get a sense during rotations, but honestly, I think a lot of places stack their first few months with more didactics then usual (for two reasons: 1) for their own new residents 2) to show the students that there is teaching).
A lot has to do with learning style and what the individual wants to put in. I don't think this is a field that you can just learn straight from a book - having practical guidance is crucial. However, I'm also not certain that this is a field that needs 3 lectures a week, especially for the caliber of candidates that enters. The presumption of many programs is that you will read on your own, and if I was a clinical educator, that is what I'd expect.
I think that what you should look for in a potential residency is one that has a record of teaching hands-on how to do things the right way. For example, we all know that chemoRT is the right treatment for anal cancer. We know the rationale, we know the statistics of colostomy-free-survival with and without chemo, we know that induction with cisplatin isn't beneficial, we know the dose, etc. Anyone can read this.
What you need is a place that will, in addition, force you to learn what your targets are and how to exactly contour them - i.e. for anal CA - the lymph node basins, the presacral space, the mesorectum, etc. Then, how much margin and why. That is crucial - learning that there is a right and wrong way, that although there is an art, there is also science, and the science is far more important than stylistic changes.
If doing this all over again, I'd want to go to a place that shows me the right way to do things. I can read all the literature on my own...
In addition to the places mentioned, I had a few instructors from Penn who seemed to know how to do the practical things in a logical, consistent way. My partner is from Maryland and she knows what she is doing. I also got the impression that Beaumont was that sort of a place, as well, but really hard to tell as a student.
-S
A lot has to do with learning style and what the individual wants to put in. I don't think this is a field that you can just learn straight from a book - having practical guidance is crucial. However, I'm also not certain that this is a field that needs 3 lectures a week, especially for the caliber of candidates that enters. The presumption of many programs is that you will read on your own, and if I was a clinical educator, that is what I'd expect.
I think that what you should look for in a potential residency is one that has a record of teaching hands-on how to do things the right way. For example, we all know that chemoRT is the right treatment for anal cancer. We know the rationale, we know the statistics of colostomy-free-survival with and without chemo, we know that induction with cisplatin isn't beneficial, we know the dose, etc. Anyone can read this.
What you need is a place that will, in addition, force you to learn what your targets are and how to exactly contour them - i.e. for anal CA - the lymph node basins, the presacral space, the mesorectum, etc. Then, how much margin and why. That is crucial - learning that there is a right and wrong way, that although there is an art, there is also science, and the science is far more important than stylistic changes.
If doing this all over again, I'd want to go to a place that shows me the right way to do things. I can read all the literature on my own...
In addition to the places mentioned, I had a few instructors from Penn who seemed to know how to do the practical things in a logical, consistent way. My partner is from Maryland and she knows what she is doing. I also got the impression that Beaumont was that sort of a place, as well, but really hard to tell as a student.
-S
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