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Radiation Oncology Residency Program – Why Tufts MC

Tufts Medical Center is located in downtown Boston within walking distance of the Boston Common, the Business district, the center for banking and commerce for the area, and of the Waterfront and Quincy Market areas.

The Medical Center is derived from the very first institution to take care of the sick in Boston – the Boston Dispensary founded in 1796. The present center was reorganized in 1965 bringing together the Boston Dispensary, the Boston Tufts Medical Center which is the children’s hospital for this Institution, and the Pratt Diagnostic Clinic.

The Department of Radiation Oncology was founded in 1968 by Dr. Fernando Bloedorn. The department is also associated with Tufts University School of Medicine  and has the distinction of being one of the first truly separate departments in radiotherapy in a medical school and major teaching hospital in the United States and is the first on the East Coast.

Our 415-bed robust academic medical center provides a wide range of services from routine medical care to treating the most complex diseases affecting adults and children. Tufts Medical Center provides heart, kidney and bone marrow transplants, is a Level 1 Trauma Center, and offers cutting-edge cancer treatment.

It is also the home to the Boston Gamma Knife Center, the first and only gamma knife in Massachusetts and northern New England.  

The emphasis on careful technique, use of cutting edge treatment planning/delivery technology, interstitial and intra-cavity therapy whenever appropriate, and the stress on pre-,post-, or inter-operatively, is emphasized at all times. Furthermore, the care of the whole patient, including other medical problems and the psychiatric aspects of each case is a major emphasis of our training program.

The core of the clinical training is hands-on clinical experience under the close supervision of faculty radiation oncologists. The residents first see each new patient. Great importance is placed on the initial history and physical exam followed by review of x-rays, pathology, and remaining work-up. The resident then makes a suggested plan of treatment which is reviewed by the faculty. The simulation is then performed by the resident with faculty oversight. The resident then follows the patient through treatment. Each resident also sees follow-up patients with the attending physician.

Interspersed from the beginning is the teaching of fundamentals of physics and radiobiology so that the clinical experience will be enriched by a basic understanding of the action of ionizing radiation on normal and tumor tissue.

As the trainee grows in ability and clinical experience, he or she is encouraged to accept graduated responsibility, but always under the close supervision of the rotation faculty member. 

It is expected that each trainee will complete one research project leading to publication. Interest in basic radiobiology and molecular biology is nurtured. Residents are expected to actively participate in the teaching of medical students, dental students and radiation therapists as part of their training. A Clinical Instructor appointment will be realized with the Tufts University School of Medicine.

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