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The Accelerators (Drs. Anna Brown, Matt Spraker, and Simul Parikh) are joined by the hosts of the popular #RadOnc #MedEd podcast, At The Beam!

Drs. Trudy Wu and Hyunsoo Joshua No are PGY-4 radiation oncology residents at UCLA and Stanford and innovators in medical education. They started their podcast to help learners in all stages of their training master work up and treatment of all types of cancers.

In the show, we share the origin stories of At The Beam and The Accelerators Podcast, and discuss our thoughts about the changing landscape of medical education. We talk current unmet needs in medical education and how they might be filled: podcasts, The Accelerators Anthology, something else?

We cap the episode by heating things up with the return of Simul's Lightning Round. As expected, Trudy and Josh crush it.

Podcast art generously donated by Dr. Danielle Cunningham. Intro and Outro music by Emmy-award winning artist Lucas Cantor Santiago.

The Accelerators Podcast is a Photon Media production. 

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Accelerators co-host Dr. Matt Spraker hosts Radiation Oncologists Drs. Krish Jethwa, Neil Newman, and Jeff Ryckman for part 2 of our discussion on radiotherapy for liver tumors.

We kick off with Neil reviewing his Twitter thread comparing TACE and SBRT for liver tumors. We discuss the data supporting SBRT as superior therapy, especially in patients who have recurrence after TACE. We further share some talking points for your tumor board.

Then discuss one of our faves, a randomized trial of sorafenib with or without SBRT (NRG/RTOG 1112). This leads to more discussion about how to approach large/unresectable liver tumors in your tumor board and possible future studies for these patients. 

Here are some things we discussed in the episode:

• Barcelona Liver Staging
• Sapir et al., Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy as an Alternative to Transarterial Chemoembolization for Hepatocellular Carcinoma
• Comito et al., SBRT versus TACE/TAE for recurrence after TACE
• Akarapatima et al., TACE versus BSC for HCC
• Xiang et al., TACE versus BSC for HCC
• Llovet et al., TACE/TAE versus BSC for HCC 
• TRENDY trial., TACE versus SBRT for HCC
• Bush et al., proton radiotherapy versus TACE for HCC
• Verbus et al., SBRT versus TACE as bridging therapy in HCC 
• Hong et al., phase II trial of proton radiotherapy for unresectable cholangiocarcinoma
• RTOG 1112 survival curves

Podcast art generously donated by Dr. Danielle Cunningham. Intro and Outro music by Emmy-award winning artist Lucas Cantor Santiago.

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Accelerators co-host Dr. Matt Spraker hosts Radiation Oncologists Drs. Krish Jethwa, Neil Newman, and Jeff Ryckman for romp through the exciting world of radiotherapy for liver tumors! 

In the first of this two part episode, we Krish, Neil, and Jeff explore how liver tumors are treated in practice. We learn that Jeff can tell your Child-Pugh score by looking at your finger nails and other tips that can help with patient selection. Then we have a fantastic data-driven discussion on treatment planning. We also cover motion management and delivery. 

Toward the end, we approach the topic that inspired this episode, comparing SBRT with catheter-based therapies. 

Like Krish, we all want to know: will Neil "let it fly" on why SBRT should be the therapy of choice? 

Tune in next week to find out.

Here are some things that were discussed doing the show:

• Dr. Newman's epic Twitter thread on TACE versus SBRT for HCC
• The liver has a body - a Cook's tour by Adrien Ruben
• Dr. Zaorsky's Liver Anatomy Explained Using Your Right Fist
• Bujold et al., phase I and II studies of SBRT for HCC
• Ritter et al., Application of Critical Volume-Dose Constraints for SBRT in NRG Trials
• Dawson et al., Individualized image guided iso-NTCP based liver cancer SBRT
• Dawson et al., Partial Irradiation of the Liver

Podcast art generously donated by Dr. Danielle Cunningham. Intro and Outro music by Emmy-award winning artist Lucas Cantor Santiago.

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The Accelerators (Drs. Anna Brown, Matt Spraker, and Simul Parikh) host Clinical Geneticist Dr. Elizabeth Chao, Director of Medical Genetics at UC Irvine and Vice President and Clinical Diagnostics Laboratory Director at Ambry Genetics for a discussion about medical genetics in the oncology clinic and beyond! 
 
We start by discussing practice models for clinical geneticists and then spend some time discussing the role of genetic testing in pancreatic cancer care. 

We then discuss genetic testing more generally and what the future holds for the field. 

Our discussion concludes with Liz sharing her training path, which started in #RadOnc, to a very successful career. 
 
Here are some things that were discussed during the show: 

• Publication of the PALB2 pancreatic cancer susceptibility gene
• NCCN Guidelines for genetic/familial high-risk assessment: breast, ovarian, and pancreatic
• UK NHS 100,000 Genomes Project
• Ambry Genetics - The Care Program

Podcast art generously donated by Dr. Danielle Cunningham. Intro and Outro music generously donated by Emmy-award winning artist Lucas Cantor Santiago.

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In this episode, The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh) discuss Matt's proposed composite quality of life measure for happiness of radiation oncologists. 

A lot is written on how to job search and evaluate the quality of a radiation oncology practice, but how to be happy practicing independently is less frequently discussed. 

Matt's lays out his theory for Rad Onc happiness, a composite quality measure made up of three components: technical occupational components (such as base salary and case load), fulfillment from career goals, and the "life" of work-life balance. In this discussion, Simul adds his thoughts. 

Creating a theory of happiness is a tall order to be sure, but at least it makes for great discussion!

Here are some things mentioned during the show:

• Evaluating a Practice in Radiation Oncology by Drs. Zaorsky and Trifelleti
• Office Space (a must see)
• Dark Side of the 90s on Hulu
• Jerry Springer (RIP)

Podcast art generously donated by Dr. Danielle Cunningham. Intro and Outro music generously donated by Emmy-award winning artist Lucas Cantor Santiago.

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The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh) host radiation oncology resident physician and writer, Dr. Matt Farrell, to discuss narrative medicine.

We review his recent JCO publication "First Cousin Once Removed". In this piece, Matt describes his experience with a family meeting at the end of life for his cousin John, an actor and patient living with HIV and AIDS prior to the release of HAART. 

Matt's work sparks a discussion of family dynamics surrounding the death of a loved one, the language we use in medicine, and Matt's plans to keep writing a significant part of his life as a physician. 

Plus, book recommendations! 

Here are some things we discussed during the show:

• VVPN Reflections on Pandemics
• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese 
• Thrillville, USA by Taylor Koekkoek
• Liberation Day: Stories by George Saunders
• The Combative Language of Cancer: A Plea for an Armistice by Dr. Matt Farrell

Podcast art generously donated by Dr. Danielle Cunningham. Intro and Outro music generously donated by Emmy-award winning artist Lucas Cantor Santiago.

The Accelerators Podcast is a Photon Media production. 

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Accelerator Dr. Matt Spraker hosts the first ever live #RadOnc podcast!

Drs. Todd Scarborough, Emma Fields, and Alexis Schutz join for this very special episode, recorded from the #ACRO2023 Afterparty in Orlando, Florida. We first discussed our love of ACRO, informal and collegial poster sessions, and our favorite parts of day 1 of the conference.

Then, we explored the elephant in the room, the radiation oncology workforce and job market. Todd reveals himself as part of Graypeace, authors of An Inconvenient Truth, a narrative that likens workforce trends in radiation oncology to global warming. We find that, recently, graduating residents are perceiving a strong job market. But is this just a cold day masking a larger trend of global warming?

Emma shares her thoughts on how the 2018 ABR initial certifying exam debacle may have initiated concerns that are driving decreased numbers of medical student applications to our field. Will programs commitment to cleaning without soap correct forecasts of radiation oncologist oversupply? 

We close our session with Q&A and, of course, a discussion of our favorite radiation oncologists.

We would like to extend a special thanks to the American College of Radiation Oncology for allowing us to record during their event and supporting our quest to produce balanced editorial content about the field of radiation oncology. Check out the ACROPOLIS Content Channel to check out all their supported digital properties. 

Podcast art generously donated by Dr. Danielle Cunningham. Intro and Outro music generously donated by Emmy-award winning artist Lucas Cantor Santiago.

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Accelerator Dr. Simul Parikh and Dr. Jason Beckta of the out.of.the.basement / radiation.medicine podcast team up to "simul-cast" their reaction to the radiation oncology workforce study commissioned by ASTRO and completed by Health Management Associates.

Simul and Jason are joined by friend of the show and #RadOnc workforce guru Dr. Todd Scarborough. They discuss the "supply side" of the model, hiring consultants, and the folly of forecasting the past.

Podcast art generously donated by Dr. Danielle Cunningham. Intro and Outro music generously donated by Emmy-award winning artist Lucas Cantor Santiago.

The Accelerators Podcast is a Photon Media production. 

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School is in session! The Accelerators (Drs. Anna Brown, Matt Spraker, and Simul Parikh) sit down for a radiation oncologist and colorectal specialist Dr. Nina Sanford for an informal lesson on the state of radiotherapy for rectal cancer in 2023. 
 
We work our way through an informal discussion of total neoadjuvant therapy, sequencing of therapies, radiotherapy techniques, and my favorite new #RadOnc concept, PULSAR. 

We close the show by peer reviewing Simul's case and discussing the finer points of rectal cancer contouring.

Here are other some things we discussed during the show:

• We talked about a lot of rectal studies, just check out Rad Onc Tables GI Tab
• Todd's Twitter poll on IMRT for rectal cancer 
• Bob Timmerman's excellent editorial about his SBRT constraints
• Tzeng sarcoma study referenced for bowel constraints
• The Janus Study
• Wax Lips and Fun Dip Candy

Podcast art generously donated by Dr. Danielle Cunningham. Intro and Outro music generously donated by Emmy-award winning artist Lucas Cantor Santiago.

The Accelerators Podcast is a Photon Media production. 

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The Accelerators (Drs. Anna Brown, Matt Spraker, and Simul Parikh) are back with Drs. Alison Tree (The Royal Marsden NHS, UK), Vedang Murthy (Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai, India), and Himanshu Nagar (New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell and Brooklyn Methodist, NYC).

We pick up our international discussion of prostate cancer by further discussing Radiation Oncology training and research in India, the UK, and the US.

Then we move to discuss more practical matters, such as the remarkable variation in prostate SBRT techniques across the world. We also discuss the future.

We close this episode with a discussion of our favorite Indian dishes. 

Podcast art generously donated by Dr. Danielle Cunningham. Intro and Outro music generously donated by Emmy-award winning artist Lucas Cantor Santiago.

The Accelerators Podcast is a Photon Media production.