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JAMES LARNER: I'm James Larner, Chair of Radiation Oncology
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at the University of Virginia.
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We are a small department.
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But nonetheless, we're part NCI-designated cancer center.
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And we're part of a top tier medical school.
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We have four, hopefully soon, five R1s within our department.
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We realize our primary mission is
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to train residents to be superb clinicians.
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EINSLEY JANOWSKI: Hello, my name is Einsley Janowski.
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And I'm the residency program director here
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at the University of Virginia.
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I think the best part of our residency program
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are our residents.
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They are caring, capable, and compassionate.
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They're intellectually curious and clinically excellent.
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It is a pleasure to work with them and an honor
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to train them.
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JASON SANDERS: Hi, I'm Jason Sanders.
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And I'm one of the chief residents
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at the University of Virginia Department of Radiation
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Oncology.
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During my interview, the first thing
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that really struck me was that everyone I met with
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seemed genuinely interested about me,
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as not just a medical student, but as a natural person.
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And they asked me about my interest in research
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in radiation oncology and then in things outside
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of the clinic.
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KRISTI WARD: My name's Kristi Ward.
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I'm currently a PGY-3 here at UVA.
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As a medical student, I was lucky enough to rotate here.
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And what really stood out about UVA, amongst other programs,
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were the people.
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When I was here visiting, I could tell
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that the residents were family.
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And that has really come true now that I am a resident here.
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We have a really strong clinical education program here.
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We see a wide variety of cases.
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We have a robust clinic schedule and a very strong brachytherapy
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program, which was another one of the reasons I
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decided to choose UVA.
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KARA ROMANO: Hi, I'm Kara Romano.
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I'm an assistant professor here in the Department
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of Radiation Oncology at the University of Virginia.
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At UVA, we're really lucky to have an excellent brachytherapy
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training program and an excellent brachytherapy
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clinical program for our patients,
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which means that we see a wide range of early stage
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to very advanced stage disease that we
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treat for both gynecologic cancers and prostate cancer.
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EINSLEY JANOWSKI: When I took over as residency program
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director, in order to improve the residency experience,
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I really wanted to focus on the things
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that I was insecure about and anxious about when
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I was a resident.
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And one of those things was how to understand the physics
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curriculum.
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Physics is a part of the boarding process.
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So what I did, as well as enlisting
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the help of Dr. Romano and some of our excellent clinical
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physicists, is to develop a boot camp
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curriculum for our residents.
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This gives them clinical vignettes
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and how we incorporate physics in the safety and precision
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of our radiation treatments.
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It's a week long program, and we've gotten excellent reviews
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from our residents.
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TIM SHOWALTER: My name's Tim Showalter.
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I'm Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology, where
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I specialize in genitourinary cancers and brachytherapy.
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I'm involved in helping residents grow their research
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skills across a variety of research methodologies,
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ranging from simple chart review studies
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to more complicated outcomes research.
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I also enjoy mentoring residents in development and conduct
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of clinical trials.
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CHRIS LUMINIAS: My name is Chris Luminias.
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I'm currently a PGY-4 resident here.
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I chose to come to UVA after doing a visiting rotation here.
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During that rotation, I really felt like I fit in
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with the residency culture.
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Our coresidents are really supportive and kind
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and friendly to work with.
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I think the culture of having really
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approachable friendly attendings translates
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into research opportunities that go really well.
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I think a lot of people feel like resident research needs
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to be small retrospective studies.
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But I've had a chance to work really
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closely with Dr. Showalter in brachytherapy
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and worked on what was first a retrospective dosimetic study
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of an MRI prostate brachytherapy guidance,
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and then transitioned that into a prospective trial
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that I got to write and then open at UVA.
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DON MULLER: My name is Don Muller.
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I'm a chief resident at the University of Virginia.
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So I've had a lot of very great experiences at UVA.
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One of which, was I was able to study abroad
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in Zurich, Switzerland.
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They have a proton center there called PSI.
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It was a great experience.
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I got to learn, not only how protons are used,
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we got a good experience in pediatric malignancies.
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But notably, how the Europeans do
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things is a little bit different than the way
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that it's done in America.
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I was rather undecided.
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I really liked going into private practice.
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That was something that I had thought
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about doing because that's what I had my first experience in.
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And then I've had a lot of good opportunities
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to participate in research.
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So academics was something I was also interested in.
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I couldn't have had more support.
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Attendings really went to bat for me.
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And I was able to find that perfect mix of academics
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and private practice in the city that I grew up in.
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KARA ROMANO: So Charlottesville is a great town.
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It has a small town feel with the large amenities
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that you would get in any city.
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I grew up in Houston, Texas.
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And moving to an area of the country that
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has mountains and seasons and beautiful trees
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is a very nice change.
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And I would highly recommend it.
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JAMES LARNER: Radiation oncology is obviously
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a technically oriented subspecialty.
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Our portfolio of equipment is extraordinary.
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We have a long history of having a Gamma Knife.
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We have a total of four linear accelerators.
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We're expecting a MRI-LINAC to be on board within the next 12
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months.
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I'm extremely optimistic about the role UVA radiation oncology
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is going to play in the future of our specialty.
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As a board certified medical oncologist in my previous life,
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I strongly believe that the best drug we have is radiation.
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It's not only the most efficacious,
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it's the most targeted.
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I'd hope you will give you the radiation oncology
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a serious consideration.
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I would like nothing more than for you
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to join our team so that together, we
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can advance the field.
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