“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years getting people interested in you,” Mattson

“People misconstrue diversity. Diversity encompasses many groups depending upon what is underrepresented in the field,” said Dr. Maria L. Soto-Greene, who is nationally known for her work in diversity, inclusion, health equity and social justice. “Sometimes people equate diversity with underrepresented minorities, which leaves out the many identities that we have. Think about a person who is LGBTQ and also an underrepresented minority. When we fail to consider the assets of a diverse provider, we deprive our communities of the benefit that can be realized in their care.”

If you look at the top 20 specialties, radiation oncology ranks at the bottom with respect to women and minorities, so we need to figure out what we are not doing a good enough job at, recruiting these folks that are going into other specialties,” said Dr. Curtiland Deville, clinical director of Radiation Oncology at Sibley Memorial Hospital and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“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.