Radiation Oncology Residency

Welcome and thank you for your interest in the Radiation Oncology Residency Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. As the program director and alumna, it is my privilege to introduce you to our renowned training program.

There have been so many amazing changes since I was a resident. Many are a product of the brilliant ideas and the work and dedication of our residents and fellows, and others have naturally manifested due to COVID-19 and the need to restructure how we teach, meet and learn.

While we have maintained many aspects of the residency program that have been a cornerstone of clinical training at MD Anderson over the past few years, we’ve also enhanced the curriculum and expanded opportunities for rotations, learning and research.

The Fletcher Cox Pathway was established to focus resident growth and learning in clinical trial development and implementation. Residents and fellows routinely participate actively in prospective trial work, which provides them with invaluable experience for their future careers in radiation oncology. Formal coursework through the University of Texas McGovern Medical School is offered as a part of this pathway.

The Global Oncology Global Cancer Care Track was created in collaboration with then resident Dr. Chidinma Anakwenze, now a current faculty member, to afford exposure to radiation oncology care abroad. Our Bioinformatics pathway, another track developed in partnership with Dr. Brian De when he was a resident (now faculty), provides formal training in data science and informatics at the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics. Moreover, we continue to train successful physician scientists through the Holman Pathway. Most importantly, we remain committed to providing our residents with exceptional clinical training through support of our committed faculty.

In true MD Anderson tradition, we still find time to hang out together outside of the hospital. Sporting events remain popular. We have grown fond of our Taco Run meet ups where we run the Rice University 5k trail and enjoy post-run tacos and drinks. The fruits of our training labor were manifested at ASTRO this year; our MD Anderson team took home the winning trophy in the ROI 5k Run.

Our team continues to expand, which has provided opportunities for us to develop and grow in the education space. I work alongside two fantastic associate residency program directors, Dr. Emma Holliday and Dr. Comron Hassanzadeh. We have robust medical student programming led by medical student program director, Dr. Jillian Gunther and medical student associate program director, Dr. Devarati Mitra. Our team is supported by our administrative Dream Team, led by our director of education administration, Denise De La Cruz, Ph.D.

We are committed to improving our programs’ curricula and the training experience for our residents in addition to nurturing a culture of connection and mentoring. To this end, our Visiting Professorship program is thoughtfully planned and thoroughly integrated with our Division of Radiation Oncology Grand Rounds.

Thank you for considering the Radiation Oncology Residency Program. We look forward to welcoming you to our team.