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Radiation ranking exhibits star quality In its 10th year of accreditation, MUSC’s Department of Radiation of Oncology is edging toward the national apex of radiology. This month, the department learned that it is now ranked third among 74 competing programs certified by the American Board of Radiology (ABR) in the United States.   The high ranking reflects a phenomenal pass rate on oral and written examinations, which includes a 100-percent pass rate during the past 10 years running. Nearly 86 percent of all of MUSC’s first time candidates passed the oral exam on the first attempt, according to the ABR.   The radiation oncology department, chaired by Joseph M. “Buddy” Jenrette, M.D., staffs between 45-50 people, including five faculty physicians, five faculty physicists, one faculty research scientist, and four residents. Three different facilities under the department are located at the Medical University Hospital, Mount Pleasant and Georgetown. The three centers have five nurses, 13 therapists, four dosemetrist, and 12 members of the administration staff.   Aside from employing the latest technologies in radiation equipment and treatment planning computers, the department has been approved by the state to purchase a new technology called tomotherapy.   Tomotherapy is a form of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). So-called the tomo, it shares a lot of technology with CT scanners and perform a quick CT scan before each treatment starts, to ensure the patient is aligned perfectly. Then a thin beam is rotated around the body, entering from many directions, which effectively results in thousands of tiny beams of different intensities entering the body converging on the tumors, large or small, in one or multiple areas of the body, all while avoiding designed organs.   Resident and faculty physicians at MUSC’s Department of Radiation Oncology work together on disease site specific teams in which there is a one-on-one relationship between the two, Jenrette explained. “This provides constant learning opportunities for the residents,” he said.   Faculty and resident physicians attend site specific tumor boards and clinics together in such a varying array of disease sites as breast, head and neck, GI, thoracic, gynecological, neurological and pediatric malignancies.   “In fact, we learn from each other,” Jenrette said. “We start each morning with daily academic conferences. Because of our small size, we have been able to engender a spirit of esprit d’ corps amongst the staff creating an ideal learning environment in which everyone supports one another in learning.”   While his department has only been receiving documentation from the ABR for the past 10 years, “We have moved from the middle of the pack to the top of the list during that time,” Jenrette said. “We have out sights on number 1 in the next two or three years.”   The department’s program has been accredited for 28 years.   Friday, Feb. 2, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.