EDU 22 - Radiation Oncology within the Context of Multidisciplinary Cancer Centers: Are We Losing Our Identity?

Moderator(s)

• 

  Mylin Torres, MD, FASTRO

  Emory University
  Atlanta, GA, United States

The NCI Cancer Centers Program was created as part of the 1971 National Cancer Act. Since that time, significant effort has been devoted to integrating clinical care, research and education into comprehensive cancer centers in the United States and abroad. In the process, radiation oncology departments have developed varying degrees of structural and financial integration within cancer centers designed to facilitate bench to bedside innovative and practice changing research and to provide high quality, multidisciplinary, affordable patient care through economies of scale. Few, if any cancer center model systems, have been subjected to in-depth qualitative or quantitative analysis evaluating their structural effectiveness including their impact on radiation oncology. As a referral-based discipline involved in the care of at least 50% of cancer patients, radiation oncology is a specialty which lends itself naturally to integration within cancer centers. Nevertheless, the degree of integration varies across health systems and few radiation oncologists hold leadership positions within cancer centers. Many radiation oncology faculty are not aware of the core research programs which drive cancer centers, as these programs may or may not be aligned with the clinical enterprise. Furthermore, staffing models and reporting structures vary based on the organizational integration of radiation departments into cancer centers, and key staffing decisions may be made by cancer leadership outside of the radiation department. This session will illustrate existing relationships, the benefits and limitations of specific cancer center organizational structures, and the importance of the radiation oncology voice in governance and program development of cancer centers.

Presentations:

• 10:45 AM – 10:47 AM ET

  Introductions
  

  Speaker: Mylin Torres, MD, FASTRO – Emory University
• 10:47 AM – 11:02 AM ET

  Will the Next Generation of Radiation Oncologists Lead Cancer Centers and does that Matter?
  

  Speaker: Walter Curran, MD – Piedmont Healthcare
• 11:02 AM – 11:17 AM ET

  Clinical Service Line Development: How Can Young Radiation Oncology Faculty Members Leverage their CCSG-Supported Center for Their Career Development?
  

  Speaker: Bruce Haffty, MD, FASTRO – Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
• 11:17 AM – 11:32 AM ET

  Does the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant Structure Strengthen or Weaken Radiation Oncology Research and Innovation?
  

  Speaker: Theodore Lawrence, MD, PhD, FASTRO – University of Michigan
• 11:32 AM – 11:47 AM ET

  Radiation Oncology Leadership within a Cancer Center: Models of Clinical Trial and Financial Integration
  

  Speaker: Jerry Jaboin, MD, PhD, MBA, FASTRO – University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
• 11:47 AM – 12:00 PM ET

  Questions and Answers
  

  Speaker: Mylin Torres, MD, FASTRO – Emory University