ARRO Subcommittees
The ARRO Subcommittees were formed to assist with the various projects of the ARRO Executive Committee. For more information on the projects and responsibilities of each subcommittee, please read the descriptions below.
The call for subcommittee volunteers for the 2024 - 2025 term is now closed. For questions, please email ARRO.
Education Subcommittee
The mission of the ARRO Education Subcommittee is to develop new educational tools, disseminate educational resources, and advocate for residents' concerns relevant to academic training and specialty certification.
We have many active projects, and we are always looking for new ideas to enhance resident education:
- ARROcases and ARROcontour (in collaboration with eContour)
- ARROresources
- Webinars and Podcasts
- ARROrock (radiation oncology on-call handbook)
- ARROanki (Anki decks on various topics)
- Entrustable Professional Activities development
- Many more!
The subcommittee publishes the ARROcase each month, which provides an in-depth discussion of the etiology, workup, staging, therapeutic rationale and treatment planning relevant to a high-yield clinical case. We recently launched ARROcontour as part of a collaboration with eContour.org. Residents can submit a clinical case and corresponding volumes for publication on the eContour.org website to provide an in-depth learning of treatment design.
The subcommittee works to update ARROresources, which is a centralized list of high-yield educational resources, and published ARRO consensus recommendations for preparation for the physics and radiation and cancer biology qualifying examinations. In addition, we recently released educational physics video modules and a physics study guide in collaboration with Varian and plan to continue developing new educational tools for residents to help improve their application of physics and radiation biology in the clinical setting.
The subcommittee also produces monthly educational webinars that are recorded by excellent educators and experts in the field. The webinars range from clinical to nonclinical topics. Our offerings also include ROMPES modules for physics learning and a lecture series around financial wellness. We also have collaborations with radiation oncology podcasts (where our members are frequently featured as guests!).
The subcommittee recently launched three new projects in 2023-2024. ARROrock is an initiative to improve resident education about handling patient phone calls, on-call urgencies/emergencies and radiation emergencies. ARROanki aims to crowd-source Anki decks to share with the broader radiation oncology community. The committee is also heavily involved in developing radiation oncology-specific Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) to improve feedback and standardize evaluation in residency.
We would love to hear how you would like to enhance resident education with us!
Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee
The ARRO Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee strives to:
- Foster a supportive environment for trainees across the country comprised of underrepresented groups in medicine (UIM) and their allies.
- Systematically assess and report trends in workforce diversity toward the goal of generating impactful and sustainable solutions.
- Initiate and foster ongoing dialogue on issues of diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice within radiation oncology.
The subcommittee hosts monthly meetings to facilitate discussion and networking through a variety of formats, including in-depth discussions of topics with experts and a mentorship program. As our subcommittee develops, we hope to engage with other groups with strong interests in diversity, equity and inclusion to host other events and provide an environment for collaboration.
Global Health Subcommittee
The ARRO Global Health Subcommittee's goal is to help expand residents' role in achieving more equitable health care for patients at home and abroad through outreach, education and research. The projects that we have worked on this past year include establishing a partnership with the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology, launching a global health lecture series and collaborating with organizations such as Rayos Contra Cancer to enhance international radiation oncology training programs.
We continue to cultivate and evaluate the Global Health Scholars program as an ASTRO-supported endeavor and we are working to update the ARRO website to further support residents interested in global health opportunities. The focus of the committee changes from year to year. Current and future subcommittee objectives range from providing mentorship and networking events to residents interested in establishing academic careers in global oncology to participating in international brachytherapy and SBRT training and implementation initiatives.
Communications and Advocacy Subcommittee
The ARRO Communications and Advocacy Subcommittee is charged with the maintenance, development and expansion of the ARRO website and social media resources. This subcommittee works in collaboration with the Education and Global Health Subcommittees to distribute information about resources and opportunities for residents and medical students via ARRO’s Facebook page, X (Twitter), ROhub and the monthly ARROgram.
Members of the subcommittee are expected to actively participate in conference calls every two to three months and contribute to the goals and objectives established by the subcommittee at the ASTRO Annual Meeting. Subcommittee members also have the opportunity to take part in communications projects led by the ASTRO Communications Committee. The Communications and Advocacy Subcommittee welcomes ideas for further improvement and expansion of currently available social media resources and for the creation of new opportunities.
