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October 2024

“Capitol-izing” on our space: Early Career and Mentoring Lounge
The Early Career and Mentoring Lounge was set up as a multipurpose gathering place for Early Career (EC) attendees in a centralized location with expanded utilization. In addition to holding our first open Early Career Committee (ECC) meeting, sessions included: How to Become a FASTRO, Why Now is the Right Time to Become an Authorized User for RPT, Advocacy: Why it Matters and How You Can Get Involved, Plenary Debrief and more. Other activities included three Speed Mentoring sessions, a Committee Fair, grant writing office hours, Epic-RTAnswers MyChart demos, one-on-one mentoring, livestreaming of many of the sessions, selfie opportunities, and lots of networking with colleagues. Outside of the lounge, the ECC sponsored a well-attended Education Session – EDU 36: What I Wish I Knew in the Early Career Period, moderated by ECC Education Subcommittee Chair James Bates, MD. Be sure to listen to it on the onDemand Meeting.

We look forward to repeating the success next year in San Francisco and will reach out to you for programming ideas. The ASTRO meetings team has already planned an incredible location for our lounge in the Moscone Center – can’t wait to do it all over again!

 

Watch our Instagram reel

Thanks to Anna Brown, MD, MPhil, for putting together this great Instagram reel to share some Annual Meeting highlights.

 
Early Career radiation oncologists share takeaways from ASTRO 2024

— by Kelsey Corrigan, MD

ASTRO Early Career Committee members and colleagues attended this year’s ASTRO Annual Meeting in full force. I asked them to share one idea they picked up from the meeting that they could put into practice “tomorrow.” Read their takeaways.
 

Vivek Kavadi, MD, MBA, FASTRO, shares his vision as he takes on the position of ASTRO CEO

Dr. Kavadi took the stage on Monday morning to provide a brief introduction of his vision and goals as he takes on the position of ASTRO CEO on November 1. Watch the recording.

 
ASTRO Board of Directors focuses on early career and community practice members
ASTRO CEO Laura Thevenot presented results of the ASTRO Member Survey during the Fall Board of Directors meeting held in Washington, DC just prior to the Annual Meeting. The Board keyed in on two specific areas, early career member satisfaction and private and community practice engagement. Watch for an Early Career Member survey later this year to address the first area. In response to the second area, then ASTRO Chair Jeff Michalski, MD, MBA, FASTRO, called for a task force to be led by ASTRO President Sameer Keole, MD, FASTRO, to better integrate private and community practice physicians into the various activities of ASTRO. The purpose of the task force will be to help direct the initiatives of the society.
 
How ROCR will impact early career radiation oncologists
—By Anna M. Brown, MD, MPhil, Chair of the Community Building Subcommittee

Payment reform has long been on the horizon for radiation oncologists. Years ago, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had been in discussions about an Alternative Payment Model (APM) for the field of radiation oncology. This would have been a mandatory program with some exemptions and would have monumentally affected the way that radiation oncology services were reimbursed. That effort, the RO-APM, ultimately was delayed and then delayed indefinitely in the face of criticism from ASTRO and other key stakeholders.

In the past year or so, ASTRO has worked tirelessly to put together a legislative effort that would transition radiation oncology payment away from a per-fraction model (the current state) and toward a per-patient model (case rate payment model), which many believe is more sustainable in the long run with overwhelming evidence supporting hypofractionation for many disease sites, which means fewer fractions per treatment. Our field can no longer afford to let payments dwindle as practice patterns change, and currently the financial incentives are not driving us toward evidence-based hypofractionation but away from it. Read more.

 

Additional commentary on ROCR

The early career committee queried several early career radiation oncologists about ROCR, as well as ASTRO President Sameer Keole, MD, FASTRO.

View the video interview by Dr. Anna Brown as she asks Dr. Keole for his thoughts on ROCR.

Read what early career radiation oncologist Ankit Agarwal, MD, thinks about ROCR and how it will affect his brachytherapy practice:

“The ROCR model will significantly impact the utilization of prostate cancer brachytherapy. Brachytherapy, requiring extensive physician and physicist hours, is currently under-reimbursed compared to external beam radiation therapy. Under ROCR, brachytherapy remains outside the model, continuing to disincentivize its use as monotherapy. However, combination therapy (brachytherapy + external beam) for unfavorable intermediate or high-risk patients will be increasingly incentivized. With ROCR, practices may shift from the current 40+ fraction fee-for-service model to external beam + brachytherapy for the right patients. As a prostate brachytherapist, I hope ROCR renews interest in high-quality brachytherapy for high-risk prostate cancer patients.”
 
Communications Corner
Keep in touch with your ECC. Join the Early Career Community on the ROhub. Here you can share ideas, ask questions, network with colleagues and keep up with what’s happening with the ECC.
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