Who are the big names in Rad Onc these days? This was done a while ago, but I feel that times have changed...Big names in Head and Neck, GU, GI, etc...
Sorry if this sounds lame.
Sorry if this sounds lame.
Would add Sarah Donaldson (Peds, Stanford)
Simon Powell (Breast, MSKCC)
Dwight Heron (H&N, UPMC)
John Flickinger (CNS, UPMC)
You're welcome, Simul
Thorstad might a nice guy, an up and comer, but never heard of him...assistant professor with 35 pubs...would remove.
Everyone is going to put up who they know. I think a good starting place would be PI's involved in current RTOG/COG etc protocols.
I'm surprised you guys haven't started ranking them all yet. I personally think Gfunk6 is the biggest name in rad onc these days. I hear his screenname thrown around more than anyone in this list.
It's sort of dumb, ND, but the field is sort of dumb. People give more weight to pedigree and letters than compassion and interest in the field (not that it is easier to measure either). I'm certain most PDs take a person with a 260 step 1 and 2 first author pubs over the kid who with a 220, no pubs, and a year of service to cancer students. So, to help all the poor bastards that don't have the scores or the phd or the pedigree, giving them a leg up by telling them which person to get a letter from doesnt seem that dumb.
S
It's sort of dumb, ND, but the field is sort of dumb. People give more weight to pedigree and letters than compassion and interest in the field (not that it is easier to measure either). I'm certain most PDs take a person with a 260 step 1 and 2 first author pubs over the kid who with a 220, no pubs, and a year of service to cancer patients. So, to help all the poor bastards that don't have the scores or the phd or the pedigree, giving them a leg up by telling them which person to get a letter from doesnt seem that dumb.
S
Maybe someone could go through the list and rank the names by how "big" they are in the field.
Let's make this objective as well.
We can rank based on who has the highest salary.
Progress! I like it.
Lets rank by who has the longest name...
Otherwise, I personally vote that either G-Funk gives us a final list for med students on the site or the thread just dies with what little dignity the poor fella has left.
I vote that this thread be sent to home hospice
I agree that this is a complete joke!! There are a couple of names that really should not be there, and innumerable names missing. If someone is a chair at a major program, recent ASTRO president, someone who has published several hundred articles, etc, they should qualify.
Off the top of my head in no particular order- how about Larry Marks, Mendenhalls (both of them), L Gunderson, J Loeffler, N Tarbell, R Weichselbaum, E Halperin, B Mosvas, J Bogart, B Haffty, L Constine, Eric Chang, T DeWeese, J Cox (mentioned above), D Haas-kogan, Hak Choi, M Machtay, M Anscher, C Lawton, JF Wilson, D Hallahan .... and innumerable others (and many more in Canada if someone were to include these folks).
For medical students- use common sense. A chair or program director will carry some weight. A well-published senior faculty will be recognize and carry some weight. A glowing letter from a junior faculty may also be helpful (moreso than an impersonal template letter from a well-known person).
I vote that this thread be sent to home hospice
I vote that this thread be sent to home hospice
i vote that whoever started this thread is responsible for dictating the death summary.
In terms of generalities, is this the general progression of LoRs (assuming same enthusiasm and quality of LoRs)
Chairman >= Program Director >> Senior Faculty >> Junior Faculty
In terms of generalities, is this the general progression of LoRs (assuming same enthusiasm and quality of LoRs)
Chairman >= Program Director >> Senior Faculty >> Junior Faculty
For students reading this thread, just remember that an impersonal letter from a "big name" may not carry as much weight as a thoughtful letter from a more junior faculty member with whom you did research, grabbed lunch and chatted between consults, reviewed your end-of-rotation talk, etc. In other words, someone who can write a personal letter about your character, interests, motivations, and personality. The "big names" get asked for lots of letters and can't/won't write glowing letters for every rotating student. Having been involved with my program's residency selection committee, I've seen a lot of letters. It is clear when someone did a 4 week rotation at program X and got a letter from Chairman Y if the chair actually knows the applicant or is just writing a form letter. A form letter from a "big name" doesn't add anything to an application in my eyes, beyond confirming that the applicant rotated at program X and didn't assault the staff or scare the patients. Rad onc is a small field and many of the non-"big name" faculty likely know, and are known by, a lot of folks around the country. For my application (many moons ago) I had letters from both types - i.e. "big names" and more junior faculty that I had gotten to know on a personal level. Just my 2 cents.However, an experienced, well-known PD can be worth even more than a Chair's letter in some circumstances. Their ability to network on your behalf on things that matter (e.g. residency rankings) is unparalleled. The Chair may not have the time or inclination to do this for you.
For students reading this thread, just remember that an impersonal letter from a "big name" may not carry as much weight as a thoughtful letter from a more junior faculty member with whom you did research, grabbed lunch and chatted between consults, reviewed your end-of-rotation talk, etc. In other words, someone who can write a personal letter about your character, interests, motivations, and personality. The "big names" get asked for lots of letters and can't/won't write glowing letters for every rotating student. Having been involved with my program's residency selection committee, I've seen a lot of letters. It is clear when someone did a 4 week rotation at program X and got a letter from Chairman Y if the chair actually knows the applicant or is just writing a form letter. A form letter from a "big name" doesn't add anything to an application in my eyes, beyond confirming that the applicant rotated at program X and didn't assault the staff or scare the patients. Rad onc is a small field and many of the non-"big name" faculty likely know, and are known by, a lot of folks around the country. For my application (many moons ago) I had letters from both types - i.e. "big names" and more junior faculty that I had gotten to know on a personal level. Just my 2 cents.
[/QUOTE]+ Eisbruch
Sarcoma
Kaled Alektier, MSKCC
H+N:
Avraham Eisbruch, UM
Nancy Lee, MSKCC
Robert Amdur, UF
Kian Ang, MDACC
Wade Thorstad, Wash U
Paul Harari, UWisc
David Brizel, Duke
GU:
Anthony D'Amico, MGH
Anthony Zietman, MGH
Jeff Michalski, Wash U
Jeffrey Demanes, UCLA
Juanita Crook, Canada
Mack Roach, UCSF
Alvaro Martinez, 21st Century
Allan Pollack, The U
Patrick Kupelian, UCLA
Deborah Kuban, MDACC
Mike Zelefsky, MSKCC
Eric Horwitz, FCCC
Mark Buyyounouski, FCCC
GI:
Cris Crane, MDACC
Edgar Ben-Josef, UPenn
Ted Lawrence, UM
Bill Regine, Maryland
Jaffer Ajani, MDACC
Christopher Willet, Duke
William Blackstock, Wake
Joel Tepper, UNC
Bruce Minsky, MDACC
Lisa Kachnic, BU
CNS:
John Suh, Cleveland Clinic
Penny Sneed- UCSF
Minesh Mehta, Maryland
John, Flickinger, UPMC
Peds:
Thomas Merchant, St Judes
Suzanne Wolden, MKSCC
Breast:
Julia White, OSU
Frank Vicini, 21st Century
Thomas Buchholz, MDACC
David Wazer, Tufts
Barbara Fowble, UCSF
Sylvia Formenti, NYU
Simon Powell, MSKCC
Thorax:
Jeff Bradley, Wash U
Larry Kestin, 21st Century
Robert Timmerman, UTSW
Steve Hahn, Upenn
Walter Curran, Emory
Ritsuko Komaki, MDACC
Gyn:
Patricia Eiffel- MDACC
Catheryn Yashar, UCSD
AJ Mundt, UCSD
Bill Small, Loyola
Beth Erickson, MCW
Lymphoma:
Yahalom- MSKCC
Dabaja- MDACC
Lynne Wilson, Yale
Sarah Donaldson, Stanford
Just a couple people off the top of my head to consider for the list. Interesting to see where I was 5 years ago in my line of questions, lol.
Gyn - Beriwal from UPMC, Viswanathan from JHU, Klopp from MDACC
Chest - Iyengar (UTSW?), Joe Chang (MDACC)
CNS - Mahajan from MDACC, Paul Brown MDACC
H&N: Sue Yom from Stanford, Heron from UPMC (Re-RT)
Just a couple people off the top of my head to consider for the list. Interesting to see where I was 5 years ago in my line of questions, lol.
Gyn - Beriwal from UPMC, Viswanathan from JHU, Klopp from MDACC
Chest - Iyengar (UTSW?), Joe Chang (MDACC)
CNS - Mahajan from MDACC, Paul Brown MDACC
H&N: Sue Yom from Stanford, Heron from UPMC (Re-RT)