UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine-UCLA Medical Center Program

Program Identity & Fit

UCLA's Radiation Oncology residency is an academic, research-intensive program embedded in the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, drawing a high-volume, socioeconomically and ethnically diverse patient population from Southern California, Western Nevada, the Southwest, and increasingly international referrals from Mexico, South America, and the Pacific Rim. The four-year curriculum requires a PGY-1 internal medicine, surgery, or comparable transitional year, features two-month site-specific rotations with progressive autonomy, an intensive PGY-3 dosimetry/treatment planning block, formal rotations at one of the nation's most active brachytherapy services and at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and dedicates a minimum of ten months in PGY-4 to protected scholarly work. The program's lineage in radiobiology (Withers) and health policy/disparities leadership (Steinberg) signals an identity built around training academic leaders in radiation oncology, and it maintains additional infrastructure (an AI/computational oncology fellowship, PBM medical physics graduate program) reflecting emphasis on translational and technology-driven research alongside clinical excellence. Elective access to diagnostic radiology, pathology, medical oncology, nuclear medicine, and integrative oncology programs supports a multidisciplinary, systems-based training model.