ARROgram - April 2024 ARRO Announcements
April 9, 2024
2024 ARRO Educator of the Year award: Nominations now open!
ARRO is now accepting nominations for the 2024 ARRO Educator of the Year award! ARRO strives to promote and recognize educational excellence in radiation oncology training programs. Each year, ARRO presents the annual Educator of the Year Award to one outstanding faculty member at each participating institution. The chief resident at each program is invited to submit the name of one faculty member who will be provided with a certificate from ARRO. You may consider physicists, biologists or other faculty members if appropriate. Please discuss this award with your fellow residents and ask your chief to submit one nomination from your program for Educator of the Year. Please submit only one nominee per institution. Be sure to submit your ARRO Educator of the Year Award nominee to ARRO before the deadline on April 24, 2024, by completing the application.
*New* Resource Corner!
Your Communication & Advocacy Committee is debuting the Resource Corner! Although it is (sadly) not an actual corner, read the ARROgram every month as we feature a helpful Radiation Oncology educational resource! This month, we are starting off with eContour.org, a unique website with hundreds of scrollable example contours (tumor volumes and OARs!), contouring guidelines, clinical pearls and other high-yield literature. One of our contributors is piloting a step-by-step how-to contouring module for a number of disease sites and organs at risk. If you're interested in helping with the study and possibly making some $$$, sign up here!
Global Health Scholars Grant applications
Applications for the 2024 Global Health Scholars Grant are now being accepted! The deadline to submit an application is Friday, April 12, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. Individuals interested in pursuing a global health rotation are invited to submit their applications to obtain a $2,500 travel grant to help cover the costs of the rotation.
In addition to the application, a letter of support from your program director, a letter of support from the sponsor institution, a personal statement and a project description must be included with the application.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Joy Ogunmuyiwa or Emily MacDuffie for more information.
Advocacy Day is around the corner!
Register now for Advocacy Day in Washington, DC, from May 20-21, 2024. ASTRO is eager to welcome you back to another exciting in-person Advocacy Day. Engage with your senators, representatives and respective staff members on the policy issues critical to radiation oncology. As a meeting participant, you can expect:
- Face-to-face conversations with members of Congress and staff, scheduled by ASTRO, about what matters to you, your practice and your patients
- Expert policy panels and discussions on ASTRO legislative priorities
- Lobbying “how to” so you are comfortable and know what to expect on the Hill
- Networking opportunities with ASTRO leaders, volunteers, residents and peers
With more Medicare reimbursement cuts, prior authorization delays, and darkening prospects for cancer research funding all impacting radiation oncologists and their patients, it's more important than ever to make your voice heard. Register and book your hotel now!
NEW AWARD ALERT: 2024 ARRO Resident Educator of the Year award
We are excited to announce that nominations are now open for the inaugural ARRO Resident Educator of the Year award! As ARRO recognizes outstanding attendings for their educational efforts each year, starting in 2024 we will also recognize residents for their educational achievements. The ARRO Resident Educator of the Year Award will honor those who demonstrate outstanding dedication, innovation and effectiveness in teaching medical students, residents and other colleagues in radiation oncology. All PGY2-PGY5 radiation oncology residents are eligible to be nominated, and two residents will win the award in 2024. Individuals can nominate themselves or others for this award. Residents and attendings are eligible to submit nominations. Nominations will be scored based on the following categories as they relate to education projects: project/content development, innovation and creativity, impact on others, and leadership.
For each nomination, the following are required: nominee email, institution of training, CV and a letter of support for the nominee explaining why this individual deserves the award. Please submit your ARRO Resident Educator of the Year Award nomination to ARRO before the deadline on May 1, 2024.
Radiation Oncology Virtual Education Rotation (ROVER) moderator needed
Interested in Radonc education and webinars? Apply to be the ROVER resident moderator! ROVER is a virtual platform developed to support radiation oncology education for medical students and residents! Check out our team! Applications for the 2024-2025 moderator are now open. Deadline is May 1, 2024. Reach out to the ROVER team with any questions!
Society for Palliative Radiation Oncology (SPRO) upcoming meeting
SPRO is hosting the much anticipated duo of Nina Sanford, MD, and Robert Timmerman, MD, from UT Southwestern to discuss their thought-provoking work on optimizing risk versus reward in the era of ablative radiotherapy through Calculated Useful Trauma (CUT). Join us on April 11, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time.
Join the ARRO/ASTRO Climate Change Task Force!
Climate change is all around us. Want to help ASTRO as we work toward creating more sustainable cancer care and conferences? Apply to join our Climate Health, Equity, and Sustainability Task Force (CHEST). Questions? Email [email protected].
Call for volunteers: Shaping the future of radiation oncology education!
Building on the 2023 study by Jeans et al. published in IJROBP, we're embarking on the next phase! We're calling for dedicated volunteers to define and describe Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for U.S. radiation oncology. The study, led by ROECSG, employed a deliberative process with diverse stakeholders to define EPAs and curricular content domains in radiation oncology. Now, we need your help to delve deeper into those critical competencies and develop a workbook to serve as a blueprint for stakeholders such as residency programs and licensing bodies.
Contact Mustafa Basree to join our team and/or if you have any questions. Depending on the extent of contribution, writers will be listed in the EPA/curriculum book published to ROECSG's website.
Calling all residents who have taken their Physics ABR board exam: We need your help!
Varian recently made a comprehensive study guide for the Physics ABR board exam, which will be available for all residents to access and use to study for the exam. Before they can make the study guide public, they asked for our help to vet the content. If you have taken the exam and would be willing to vet one to two chapters (takes about 30 minutes total), we would really appreciate it! Our goal is to vet the study guide in time for residents to be able to use the guide for this year's exam. Please contact Kelsey Corrigan if interested!
ASTRO 2024 Annual Refresher Course: Register now!
You're invited to join us virtually from April 17-19 for the 2024 ASTRO Annual Refresher Course! We'll provide a comprehensive review of the latest treatment methods and core competencies for the major disease sites with a look at the emerging trends and technologies impacting daily practice. The virtual format combines live sessions with live Q&A. Registration includes three eContouring sessions, and the Refresher onDemand. New this year, Pediatrics will be covered in a special in-depth onDemand offering. Here's an overview of the course schedule. The Annual Refresher Course is a great review for anyone preparing to take their boards. Register today!
Connect with ASTRO leadership on the ROhub Student Community
Looking for an easy and direct way to connect with ASTRO leadership with questions and issues important to you? Join the conversation with ARRO leadership and ASTRO Board members, including Howard Sandler, MD, MS, FASTRO; Jeff Michalski, MD, MBA, FASTRO; and Geraldine Jacobson, MD, MPH, MBA, FASTRO. Introduce yourself to the community on the Introduce Yourself thread and feel free to pose any questions you have about the field of radiation oncology. All student, graduate student, and PGY-1 members have already been subscribed to daily digests and added to the community. To view the community, navigate to ROhub and select My Communities or visit the community directly.
You can also enroll in Mentor Match, hosted on ROhub, today in a few easy steps.