{"id":2254,"date":"2010-04-06T14:35:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-06T18:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/radonc\/education\/residency\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T16:37:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:37:54","slug":"residency","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/radonc\/education\/residency\/","title":{"rendered":"Radiation Oncology Residency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n\nThe Radiation Oncology Residency Training Program at the 1,000-bed University of North Carolina Hospitals meets all the requirements of the American Board of Radiology (ABR<\/a>) and is fully accredited by the American Medical Association\u2019s Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME<\/a>; see also UNC Healthcare\u2019s GME site<\/a>). UNC Hospitals are the teaching hospitals of the UNC School of Medicine, located on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The first hospital in what later became known as UNC Hospitals and the UNC Health Care System was North Carolina Memorial Hospital, which opened on September 2, 1952.<\/p>\n

NC Basnight Cancer Hospital, first opened in 2009, is the state\u2019s major referral center for patients with cancer and has active oncology subspecialty programs in Radiation Oncology, Medical Oncology, Gynecologic Oncology, Urologic Oncology, Surgical and Breast Oncology, Thoracic Oncology, Head and Neck Cancer, Pediatric Oncology, and Neuro-Oncology. The cancer hospital is the clinical face of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of only 36 National Cancer Institute\u2013designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States, and is nationally recognized for excellence in cutting-edge basic, clinical, and translational cancer research.<\/p>\n

Program Objectives<\/h2>\n

The Radiation Oncology Residency Training Program at UNC encompasses training in the fundamental principles of oncology, comprehensive cancer management, clinical radiation oncology, radiation treatment techniques, patient safety and healthcare engineering, and research. The program offers in-house didactic teaching of radiation therapy physics, dosimetry, treatment planning, biostatistics, radiation and cancer biology, and radiation pathology by nationally recognized expert educators. Intraprofessional education is also strongly emphasized, with residents interacting regularly with their fellow trainees in medical physics, radiation therapy, and medical dosimetry. Teaching is closely integrated with a multidisciplinary approach to state-of-the-art clinical management of cancer patients and investigative clinical research protocols.<\/p>\n

The 4-year residency program consists of a minimum of 36 months in clinical radiation oncology, electives (or equivalent) in medical oncology, surgical oncology, surgical pathology, diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine, and radiation physics and dosimetry. In addition, a 6-month to 12-month research elective supervised by a faculty preceptor is offered in areas as diverse as treatment planning, molecular radiation and cancer biology, cancer nanotechnology and immunotherapy, healthcare engineering, health services research, or other specialized areas of clinical radiation oncology (e.g., IMRT\/IGRT, stereotactic radiosurgery, intraoperative radiotherapy, etc.). Departmental faculty also have strong ties to the related disciplines of computer science, biomedical engineering, diagnostic imaging, genetics, nanotechnology, pathology, and pharmacology, facilitating additional research opportunities for residents.<\/p>\n

Select residents with a track record of basic science and\/or clinical research productivity and meeting all program requirements can apply to the ABR for acceptance into the Holman Research Pathway<\/a>. Interested residents may also use their research time to earn a Master’s of Public Health degree from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health<\/a>, the leading public school of public health in the United States.<\/p>\n

The Department has an ACGME-approved complement of eight residents<\/a>, with two new residents joining the program each July.<\/p>\n

Clinical training is provided in the standard care of common cancers as well as instruction in the management of unusual and complex oncologic problems. More than 2,500 patients are referred annually to the Department of Radiation Oncology. These include large numbers of patients with breast, gynecological, head and neck, bronchopulmonary, and lymphoreticular malignancies, along with patients with a wide range of other type of cancers. Nononcologic conditions such as arteriovenous malformations or vestibular schwannomas are seen for stereotactic radiosurgery.<\/p>\n

As residents advance through their training, they assume increasing responsibility for the evaluation and management of patient referrals, external beam and brachytherapy procedures, care of patients under treatment, and follow-up care.<\/p>\n

Facilities<\/h2>\n

The NC Basnight Cancer Hospital houses the Department of Radiation Oncology\u2019s clinical, physics and computing, healthcare engineering, educational, and administrative programs. The Cancer Biology Division is housed nearby in the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC) The move to the cancer hospital consolidated all clinical oncology services and professional staff in a single location and helped streamline operational efficiency. The move also facilitates unique education and training opportunities for our residents in the form of closer, more flexible interactions with faculty and peers in the other oncology specialties.<\/p>\n

The 36,000 square foot Department of Radiation Oncology treats more than 2,500 patients per year and is an integral part of the UNC LCCC. The department has active research programs in clinical oncology, radiation\/cancer biology, healthcare engineering, and medical physics. The department is an acknowledged world leader in the areas of computer-aided radiotherapy treatment planning and quality assurance\/human factors research aimed at continuously improving patient safety and clinic efficiency.<\/p>\n

In addition to our main facility in Chapel Hill, we have affiliate clinics across North Carolina, including Raleigh, Wakefield, Clayton, Smithfield, Eden, Hillsborough, Lenoir, and Boone.<\/p>\n

The clinic in Chapel Hill features the following treatment equipment and capabilities that facilitate high energy X-ray, electron beam, and specialized radiation treatments<\/span>: 2 Elekta Versa accelerators; 1 Elekta Infinity accelerator; 1 CyberKnife system; 1 Mobetron intraoperative therapy system; 1 Elekta HDR system; 1 VariSeed LDR prostate system; and 2 Phillips large-bore CT simulators. All linacs are equipped with VisionRT surface guidance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A self-shielded, J.L. Shepherd Mark I irradiator is also available for biology research ,and serves as a campus-wide core facility for such.<\/p>\n

Residents participate in an active brachytherapy program involving more than 200 high- and low-dose-rate radiation implant procedures annually for the treatment of gynecological, genitourinary, head and neck, esophagus, lung, and other malignancies. A full array of radioactive sources for interstitial and intracavitary radiation therapy is available including iridium-192, iodine-125 and phosphorus-32. Other specialized treatment programs include intraoperative radiation therapy and total body irradiation for bone marrow transplantation.<\/p>\n

Advanced treatment planning systems on computer work stations are used for all types of external beam, interstitial, and intracavitary treatment plans. Clinical treatment planning systems include RayStation TPS, Oncentra Brachy and VariSeed Intr-Op TPS. Record and Verify employs Mosaiq.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Radiation oncology residents have their own work area equipped with personal computers that are part of the Department\u2019s extensive local area network. This network provides ready access to Medline, the Health Sciences Library, UNC Hospitals laboratories, and the Tumor Registry.<\/p>\n

Conferences<\/h2>\n

Didactic courses with lectures once or twice a week are held in radiation physics and dosimetry (annually), and radiation and cancer biology (every other year). The biology course is unique in that it is team taught by educators at UNC (Dr. Gaorav Gupta, lead instructor) and Duke (Dr. Christine Eyler and Dr. Chang-Lung Lee, lead instructors) Departments of Radiation Oncology and is attended via teleconference\/webinar by medical and veterinary residents from six different training programs nationally.<\/p>\n

Residents participate in teaching, patient care, and research in the department, as well as attend both in-house and multidisciplinary conferences of the UNC Clinical Cancer Program. The in-house conferences include:<\/p>\n