Lisa Spanovich

Professional Service Learning Project

Clinical Practicum III

On Friday, September 8th, I had the pleasure of volunteering at the 2017 Radiation Oncology

Conference for Therapists and Dosimetrists. This conference was presented by the Roswell Park Cancer

Institute (RPCI) and the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists (AAMD). The event took place in

Niagara Falls, NY, at their Conference & Event Center. This is the third year that this joint partnership

occurred.1 The conference drew over 200 medical dosimetrists and radiation therapists. Varian Medical

Systems sponsored the event, and some of the exhibitors were CIVCO Radiotherapy, CDR Systems,

ProKnow, Qfix, and MIM Software to name a few.2

For this event, my fellow classmate (Paul Tabeek) and I, were asked to arrive at 7:30 am to assist

in handing out name badges. Along with the name badges, the attendees received their own wristband

that was to be worn during the conference to accrue their continuing education (CE) credits. Breakfast

was also served at 7:30. After the check in and breakfast portion of the conference ended, everyone was

directed into the main conference room to listen to the first speaker of the day.

Our main job throughout the day was to take a device and scan each attendees wristband so

that we can keep track of which person is attending which lectures throughout the day. We were able

to sit in on the lectures during the conference and I was very excited to say that this was the first

radiation oncology conference that I have ever attended! The majority of the lectures were in the main

conference area; however, there were a few times where there were 2 lectures going on at once, so the

attendees had to choose which topic that they would prefer to listen to.
 I was especially excited to meet my fellow classmate, Paul Tabeek, at the conference. Our

online program is extremely interactive, and even though, as a class, we converse through our distance

learning website, it was nice to actually get to meet him in person. We have spent the last 4 semesters

knowing/recognizing each other by that one profile photo that we have for our online classes. It was

nice to meet the person behind that picture. I hope to meet with more classmates in person in the

future; but who knows, maybe we will work together one day! From volunteering at this conference

really made me realize the comradery that exists amongst the radiation oncology community. Its such a

close knit field, and it I am very glad that I got to be a part of it. I even ran into a friend that I went to

radiation therapy school with over 10 years ago!

 References

1. 2017 Radiation Oncology Conference for Therapists and Dosimetrist. Roswell Park Cancer

Institute website. https://www.roswellpark.org/education/continuing-medical-education/cme-

conferences/radiation-oncology-conference. Accessed 9-24-17.

2. Regional Meetings. American Association of Medical Dosimetrists website.

https://www.medicaldosimetry.org/meetings/regional-meetings/. Accessed 9-24-17.

Because this conference was a joint effort, you can view information regarding the conference

through either the AAMD or the Roswell Park Cancer Institute Websites below.

https://www.medicaldosimetry.org/meetings/regional-meetings/

https://www.roswellpark.org/education/continuing-medical-education/cme-

conferences/radiation-oncology-conference

Figure 1. Paul and I at the conference!