Department of
Radiation Oncology

Education in Radiation Oncology

The Department of Radiation Oncology at Penn State College of Medicine offers a number of outstanding educational and training programs with nationally and internationally renowned faculty advisors. The department is affiliated with Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Cancer Institute and Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, and it provides the highest quality experience for education and research mentorship.

Medical student electives are available through the College of Medicine for those interested in oncology as a possible career pathway. Residents and fellows from other medical subspecialties also rotate through our department as part of their clinical training. The department has multiple funded positions for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows interested in cancer therapy. Trainees with experience in biomedical engineering or related fields, computer science, medical physics and cancer biology will be given priority.

Two- to three-year clinical research fellowships are also available for physicians and medical physicists looking for a mentored research experience to prepare for a career in academic medicine. Mentorship includes scholarship activity such as clinical trial development, manuscript preparation, and grant submissions. Applicants with a specific interest in magnetic resonance guided radiotherapy (MR-LINAC) are especially encouraged.

Research in Radiation Oncology

The research mission of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Penn State University and Penn State Cancer Institute spans innovation and discovery through translational and investigator-initiated studies and multi-center cooperative group clinical trials. The department's researchers have been at the forefront of engineering in medicine including the development of new radiopharmaceuticals and magnetic resonance guided radiotherapy with multiple patents and peer-reviewed articles related to these exciting new technologies. The department also has an incredibly strong track record of successful collaboration with industry partners on technology development through NIH Academic-to-Industry as well as STTR/SBIR mechanisms.

Furthermore, this dynamic team of clinician investigators has a history of bridging the bench to bedside with numerous phase I clinical trials exploring new drug/radiotherapy combinations and new radiotherapy delivery and fractionation schemes.

Finally, multiple investigators hold leadership roles and serve as national principal investigators at NRG Oncology and ECOG-ACRIN Cooperative Groups for multi-center prospective clinical trials through the National Cancer Institute. The department especially prides itself on mentorship of the next generation of physicians, medical physicists and engineers leading in radiation oncology.

Clinical Care in Radiation Oncology

The Department of Radiation Oncology at Penn State Cancer Institute has been an early adopter of advanced treatment services for several years and continues to stay on the cutting edge. The following treatment services are offered for the treatment of brain/spinal tumors, breast cancer, colon and rectal cancer, esophageal cancer, leukemia/lymphoma, oral, head and neck cancer, pediatric cancer, sarcoma/skin cancer, thoracic cancer, gynecologic and urologic cancers as well as noncancerous tumors and other benign conditions.

• 3-D Conformal Radiation Therapy (3-D CRT)
• Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)
• Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT)
• Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT)
• Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) Radiation Therapy
• Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT)
• Total Body Irradiation (TBI)
• High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy
• Low Dose Rate (LDR) Brachytherapy
• Magnetic Resonance Image Guided Radiotherapy (MR-IGRT)