“The greatest ability we have as humans is the ability to see beyond our circumstances. It’s about the choices we can make, the choices we need to make now are the in order to move into growth mode in everything you do.” Dr. Peart

This blog post sources its content from “Diversity Matters”, an article published in SROA’s quarterly news publication Radiation Oncology News for Administrators in April 2020.

Published studies and statistics show that cancer patients from underrepresented populations tend to have poorer health outcomes. According to a 2017 ASCO Post article, “In oncology, just 2% of the physician workforce self-identifies as black/African American and 3% as Hispanic/Latino. In addition, the proportion of black/African American and Hispanic/Latino oncology fellows is consistently lower than many other fellowships in subspecialties in internal medicine.”

SROA recently hosted a COVID-19 Q&A webinar session with four Board members. The members discussed what their facilities are doing to manage the CDC guidelines and the changing dynamic of the COVID-19 pandemic. All questions asked during the webinar were from SROA members. 

According to SROA’s 2018 Benchmarking Survey, the highest and lowest reported salaries for licensed radiation therapists was $93,600 and $65,094, respectively, with median bonuses of $2,000 and $900, respectively. Administrators reported that bonuses were not typical. SROA encourages member administrators to participate in the 2020 Biennial Benchmarking Survey.

Molly Patt is the radiation oncology department administrator at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center. Patt shared details about more about her poster presentation, “Visual Management and Team Huddles Improve Operational Outcomes,” from the 2019 Annual Meeting.

As COVID-19 took hold, it upended almost everything in health care. It has changed how healthcare providers work and how patients receive their care. The media have reported on the increased use of telehealth, treatment delays and the impacts on clinical trials. Typically, according to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 3 to 5 percent of adult cancer patients participate in clinical trials.

Sarah Lombardi is the Regional Quality Safety Coordinator for the Department of Radiation Oncology and Yale New Haven Hospital. Lombardi shares with SROA a more in-depth look at the importance of a quality and safety coordinator in radiation oncology.

Do you ever feel like there is too much to do and not enough hours in the day?

I do. I bet most of us do. If you’re anything like me, you’re juggling projects at work and at home. As the work piles up, you can feel paralyzed. Take this blog post, for instance –– I promised to complete it an embarrassingly long time ago. On top of that, it’s based on David Allen’s book, The Art of Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity.

Job satisfaction is important because it helps us have a healthy attitude that permeates all areas of our life. One was to ensure job satisfaction is having an honest conversation about career development with your manager. A good manager is willing to act as a mentor and help foster your career growth. 

"There's only really 13% of the workplace, the global workforce that is engaged and happy at work." We spoke with Jennifer Moss in a recent podcast interview for SROA SoundBoard, regarding workplace Burnout Within and Beyond the Pandemic.