Radiation Medicine for Medical Students

Programs Available

The Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences is one of the leading Radiation Oncology Departments in the country, home to exceptional clinical, education and research programs. We have 7 treatment centers in the greater San Diego region which offer medical students an exceptional educational experience. At each, we provide students exposure to cutting-edge therapies including IMRT, IGRT, SRS and SBRT. In addition, we have a busy brachytherapy service at our La Jolla Facility, treating patients with gynecologic, prostate and head/neck cancers. Through our affiliation with the California Proton Center, students gain exposure to proton therapy in both adults and children. Our department also has active research and education programs. We are eager to welcome medical students interested in radiation oncology experience all we have to offer.

1st and 2nd Year Medical Students

We can offer clinical shadowing experiences for early UC San Diego medical students with an early interest in radiation oncology.

3rd and 4th Year Medical Students

The 3rd year program (RMAS 410) comes as part of a 2-week sub-specialty selective for UC San Diego students during their core surgery clerkship.

The 4th year program (RMAS 429) consists of a 4-week rotation which offers a comprehensive experience to UC San Diego and non-UC San Diego medical students. These electives will offer a diverse experience in radiation oncology in the clinical outpatient setting. From June-October this rotation is geared toward students interested in going into radiation oncology (due to limited space), though we are happy to have students going into other fields throughout the winter and spring. Students will spend time with attending physicians, see patients, participate in treatment planning, and attend weekly education sessions (See our live Google calendar).

We can accommodate 4th year medical students from outside institutions but space is limited. Interested students can find more information here, and apply through VSLO. Students will need to have a car for transportation to different clinic sites. For visiting students, a UC San Diego ID will be provided so a temporary parking pass can be purchased for the month. We do offer scholarships for students considered underrepresented in medicine (Visiting Elective Scholarship Program).

The 3rd year students will rotate primarily at our main campus in La Jolla, and 4th year students will spend three weeks in La Jolla plus one week at one of our satellite facilities around San Diego county, including one day at the Proton Center. Overall, we hope this rotation will offer students an engaging, educational, and well-rounded experience.

Research

For medical students with an interest in research we offer several opportunities including summer research internships (through the MSTAR program, or NIH Short-Term Research Training Grant program), mentorship with Independent Research Projects (ISP) for UC San Diego students, or longer-term programs including UC San Diego's TL1 institutional training grant. More information about ongoing research in our Department can be found here.

Contact Us

Director of Medical Student Education

Director of Medical Student Education