Our Facility:
Kaiser Permanente is the one of the leading not-for-profit health care systems in the nation, serving over 12.7 million members annually. In Northern California, our membership of 4.6 million spans from Sacramento to the San Francisco Bay Area to the Central Valley. Our comprehensive cancer care includes regionalized brachytherapy services at Kaiser Permanente Radiation Oncology Departments in Dublin or Santa Clara. We offer a full suite of high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy services for gynecologic, genitourinary, skin, and other malignancies.
Fellowship Description:
The fellowship is a 2-month hands-on rotation focused on high-volume exposure to HDR brachytherapy for prostate and gynecologic malignancies at the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Radiation Oncology Department. Fellows will work closely with 2-3 brachytherapy specialists to develop proficiency in patient selection, procedural planning, procedural skills, and treatment planning in a community practice environment. The fellow will also work with our brachytherapy team, composed of physician assistants, physicists, dosimetrists, brachytherapy coordinators, social workers, and nurses, to understand the resources and staffing required to implement a successful brachytherapy program.
The fellow will present at our monthly brachytherapy meeting on a topic of their choice and will have opportunities to contribute to process improvement initiatives or clinical research.
Case volume:
Our brachytherapy program is outpatient based, featuring a procedural suite operating 5 days per week with full-time anesthesia support. High dose rate (HDR) prostate brachytherapy is performed using a template approach with ultrasound-based planning. HDR gynecologic brachytherapy is performed with transrectal ultrasound-guided placement of intracavitary or interstitial implants with MRI-guided and CT-based planning. Vaginal cylinder brachytherapy is performed with atlas-based plans.
Our typical case load over a 2-month period is:
A typical week will consist of:
Fellow Expectations and Learning Objectives:
The goal of this rotation is to provide radiation oncology fellows additional experience to advance their brachytherapy skills and understand the workflow and processes necessary to providing high-quality brachytherapy services in community-based practices.
Patient Care
Fellows must be able to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health.
Medical Knowledge
Fellows must demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological, and social-behavioral sciences, as well as the application of this knowledge to patient care.
Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
Fellows must demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate their care of patients, to appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and continuously improve patient care based on constant self-evaluation and life-long learning.
Interpersonal and Communication Skills
Fellows must demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, their families, and health professionals.
Professionalism
Fellows must demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities and an adherence to ethical principles.
Systems-Based Practice
Fellows must demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care, as well as the ability to call effectively on other resources in the system to provide optimal health care.
ABS Fellowship Application: Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara, HDR GYN and HDR Prostate
