The UC Davis School of Medicine offers three courses within the Department of Radiation Oncology for medical students:

Overview:

The radiation oncology clerkship or externship at the UC Davis Cancer Center introduces medical students to the radiation oncology clinical outpatient experience and the concepts involved in clinical radiation. Students will participate in the workup, treatment planning, and management of a variety of oncology patients, attend multidisciplinary tumor boards and morning teaching rounds, and learn the appropriate delivery of radiation therapy for cancer patients.  Areas of emphasis include the experimental basis of our current understanding of therapeutic radiation to cancer and normal tissue and the translation of radiobiologic knowledge into clinical usage. An example of the rotation follows:

Day 1

• Meet with medical student coordinator for general orientation and course materials.
• Orientation with course instructor or designated person.
• Design a schedule for seeing patients in clinic.
• For those doing a four-week rotation, rotate for one week with each service.
• For those doing a two-week rotation, work with the residents and attendings in clinic on each day.

Midway

Meet with course instructor to discuss rotation

End of rotation

Case presentation at morning conference
Evaluation of course (mandatory)

Course Duration: 2-6 weeks
Quarters: I, II, III, IV
Units: 3-9
Location: UC Davis Medical Center
Instructor: Allen M. Chen, M.D.

Responsible Agent: Olga Rusev, (916) 734-8252
olga.rusev@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu

Distribution of Students Time: Clinical activity-full time.
Prerequisites: Completion of SUR 430 (surgery clerkship) and IMD 430 (medicine clerkship). Consent of third-year clinical clerkship instructor required.

Instructor: Andrew Vaughan, Ph.D.
Responsible Agent: Olga Rusev, (916) 734-8252
olga.rusev@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
Course Duration: *
Quarters: I, II, III, IV
Units: 1
Location: *
Distribution of Students Time: Lecture 3-4.5 hrs./week
Prerequisites: BIS-1A Intro to Biology, MAT 12 Precalculus, PHY1A, Principles of Physics
Course Description: Lectures will focus on major topics in radiation biology.

Instructor: Andrew Vaughan, Ph.D.
Responsible Agent: Olga Rusev, (916) 734-8252
olga.rusev@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
Course Duration: 2-8 weeks
Quarters: I, II, III, IV
Units: 3-9
Location: UC Davis Medical Center
Distribution of Students Time: Clinical Activity-full time
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Course Description: Laboratory investigation on selected topics involving response of biological molecules, cells, tissues or animals to ionizing radiation.

For complete information about UC Davis School of Medicine's Radiation Oncology course offerings, visit the UC Davis School of Medicine course list.