Rush University Medical Center Program

Program Identity & Fit

Rush's Radiation Oncology Residency is a small, four-year academic program (six total residents, two per class with a skip year) embedded in a university medical center on Chicago's West Side, combining inpatient and outpatient oncologic care across the RUMC Tower and the newer RAB Outpatient Cancer Center. The curriculum is structured around progressive autonomy year over year, explicit multidisciplinary tumor board integration, and a physics/biology-heavy didactic core alongside clinical training, reflecting an emphasis on producing well-rounded physicians before subspecialty identity. Research is departmentally supported and funded for national/international meeting presentation (ASTRO, ACRO, ESTRO, ESMO), but is not described as mandatory or central to every trainee's path, and outcomes explicitly include both academic and community/private practice placements. The program draws heavily from osteopathic and international medical graduates among current residents and emphasizes a mentorship-dense, low-attrition, "family-like" culture as its distinguishing feature over sheer clinical volume or subspecialization tracks.