Discription

The profession of radiation oncology remains one of the most complex medical subspecialties, which requires an integrated understanding of radiation physics and technical aspects of radiation treatment planning and delivery; cancer and radiation biology; and, most importantly, the clinical oncology. Moreover, the profession continues to undergo revolutionary changes that require radiation oncologists to rapidly adopt and implement new clinical discoveries and technical innovations. The breadth of these changes can overwhelm busy practitioners, who struggle to keep abreast of the thousands of research articles and the number of changes in treatment techniques. To help with this, Hasan Murshed, M.D., M.S., has produced this text entitled, Clinical Fundamentals for Radiation Oncologists, which follows his acclaimed 2006 publication of Clinical Fundamentals for Radiation Oncology Residents.Clinical Fundamentals for Radiation Oncologists is a unique resource for busy radiation oncologists. First, it is a comprehensive text that includes review of the basic sciences underlying the field of radiation oncology, important overviews of the current state of knowledge for all common cancers managed by radiation oncologists, a concise overview of modern radiation treatment techniques, and discussion of palliative care and symptom management. In addition to this, another attractive feature about this book is its ease of use. Information is laid out for efficient utilization, with bulleted key points and effective tabulation of relevant data. The annotated bibliography not only lists the most relevant current literature but also provides the reader a capsule summary of the most important results and clinical relevancy of these studies. The efficient presentation of such material will no doubt be very useful for radiation oncologists who have only minutes to prepare for an upcoming tumor board discussion. Radiation oncologists practice evidence-based medicine, are respected for their grasp of the literature, their adaptability in implementing new technical innovations that enhance patient care, and for their patient management skills. This text helps to promote these quality features of the radiation oncology profession. It is not a text that will gather dust on a bookshelf, but instead will be one that is readily used by its readership. Congratulations are due to Dr. Murshed and his contributing authors and reviewers for providing our profession with this invaluable resource.