Radiation Oncology

Volunteer with RAD-AID Radiation Oncology

RAD-AID Radiation Oncology Medical Dosimetrist volunteer, Cory Neill, teaching in western China.

RAD-AID International is committed to addressing the World Health Organization Global Health Target of reducing mortality from non-communicable diseases, like cancer. To that end, the RAD-AID Radiation Oncology Program is a critical part of RAD-AID’s comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to cancer imaging and treatment. RAD-AID Radiation Oncology teams work with local colleagues in China, Kenya, Peru, and Tanzania through hands-on training and education.

RAD-AID International is continuing its outreach efforts to optimize oncology services from diagnosis to cancer treatment. RAD-AID’s focused cancer-control pipeline approach incorporates diagnostic imaging, interventional radiology, and radiation oncology in a multidisciplinary framework to reduce cancer mortality.

  • Medical Dosimetrists: If you are a member of the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists and are interested in volunteering, please sign-up here.
    • It is with great excitement that the AAMD and RAD-AID have partnered to offer global health outreach opportunities for medical dosimetrists. To learn more about the RAD-AID AAMD Global Medical Dosimetry Program, click here. To read about the 2020-2021 collaboration during the global health lockdown, click here.
  • Nurses: If you are a nurse, please sign-up via RAD-AID Nursing.
  • Physicists: If you are a physicist, please sign-up via RAD-AID Medical Physics.
  • Radiation Oncologists: For MD’s interested in volunteering, please sign-up via RAD-AID Radiation Oncology.
  • Radiation Therapists: If you are a radiation therapist, RAD-AID and ASRT are collaborating to offer funded opportunities for radiation therapists to volunteer with RAD-AID Radiation Oncology. Similar opportunities are also available via the RAD-AID and CAMRT and the RAD-AID SCoR collaborations.

History of the Program

radonc1

Director of RAD-AID Radiation Oncology, Shilpen Patel, MD, FACRO, with RAD-AID Cancer Imaging and Treatment in China

In 2014, RAD-AID and the ASRT Foundation began collaborating to offer funded opportunities to support radiation therapists interested in serving in China. These efforts created the RAD-AID Cancer Imaging and Treatment Program, which began in Yinchuan, China at Affiliated Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, where RAD-AID worked in 2010 and sent a delegation to work and teach in May 2014.

img_1513

RAD-AID in Kenya, 2016.

During July 2015, RAD-AID completed another visit to China to participate in a joint symposium with Affiliated Hospital of Ningxia Medical University in Yinchuan. The meeting featured radiation oncology educational sessions for regional providers and was a great success with double the expected attendance. During 2016, RAD-AID participated in the joint symposium again and continues its relationship with Ningxia.

img_3254

RAD-AID Team at Kenyatta National Hospital, 2016.

Under the leadership of Shilpen Patel, MD, FACRO, Director,  Alichia J. White, CMD, MBA, RT(T) Program Manager, and Ruth Afanador, MBA, RT(T)(CT), Assistant Program Manager, the efforts of the RAD-AID Radiation Oncology Program have continued to expand. With a partnership at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi, Kenya, and other sites under development in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Peru, the importance of interdisciplinary oncology teams has emerged as a priority. RAD-AID has an established relationship at KNH and the timing of a radiation oncology team visit was very impactful because the site recently received its first linear accelerator this year previously they had only Cobalt-60 units.

The RAD-AID Radiation Oncology Program has expanded to include additional regional program locations and a collaboration with the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists announced in 2020 to strengthen the multidisciplinary nature of the RAD-AID Cancer Imaging and Treatment Program.