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Purpose/objective(s) The American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) Resident Committee offers a mentorship program to medical students, residents, and new practitioners. This program provides a unique opportunity to develop formal mentorship on a national level to bridge existing mentorship gaps. This abstract examined the perceived benefits of a formal mentorship program. Materials/methods All applicants provided demographic information and specific mentorship need requests. Pairings occurred periodically based on a personalized pairing process. This year, due to COVID-19, all sessions were held virtually. A questionnaire was designed in Google Forms based on the Society for Women in Radiation Oncology (SWRO) annual survey to evaluate the mentorship program. Data were collected and analysis was conducted using JMP version 15(SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC). Results Since June 2020, 78 individuals enrolled: 28 to become a mentor, 38 to become a mentee; 12 were interested in both. The mentor group consisted of radiation oncology residents (47.5%), academic faculty (40%) and private practice physicians (12.5%). 57.5% of the mentors were males and 4% associated with the LGBTQI+ community. Geographic distribution of mentors: 40% Midwest, 27.5% South/Southeast, 15% Northeast, 12.5% West Coast and 5% international. Among resident mentors, 58% were Junior (PGY1-3) and 42% were senior (PGY4-5) residents. Among mentees, 50% were residents, followed by medical students (46%) and new practitioners (4%). There were equal number of males and females. The geographic distribution was: 32% Midwest, 22% South/Southeast, 36% Northeast, 2% West Coast, and 8% international. The distribution across residency training years was: 57% Junior (PGY1-3) and 43% Senior (PGY4-5). The survey was sent out in January 2021 and we currently have 29/78, 37% response rate. This survey showed the most common method of communication was email (59%), followed by video call (52%) and phone (48%). 62% had at least 2 interactions since being paired. Both parties set up the interactions in 59% of pairs, followed by mentees being responsible in 24%. Mentors reported experiencing mutual respect (94%), a personal connection (67%), clear expectations (44%), and shared values (44%). Mentees similarly reported mutual respect (94%), shared values (76%), a personal connection (59%) and clear expectations (47%). 96% had mentor/mentee relationship outside ACRO program; however, 62% felt that a formal program is more beneficial than informal opportunities. Conclusion The results of our mentorship program highlight the continued interest and need for formal radiation oncology mentorship programs. The major strength of the program has been the high rates of interaction which is based on mutual respect, shared values and personal connection. Areas of future focus includes recruiting more new practitioners and private practice radiation oncologists to help enrich and diversify the mentorship program.

Introduction Lung stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is a first-line treatment for early-stage lung cancer in non-surgical candidates or those who refuse surgery. We compared our institutional outcomes from a unique patient population with decreased barriers to care with a recently published prospective series. Materials and methods We retrospectively reviewed all patients who received definitive lung SBRT at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center from 2015 to 2020. All patients underwent a positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) and all were presented at a multidisciplinary tumor board. Patients were treated on a Trubeam linear accelerator (LINAC)-based system with daily cone-beam CT. The results were qualitatively compared to outcomes from prospective studies including RTOG 0236 and RTOG 0618. Results A total of 105 patients with 114 lesions were included. Median age was 77 years and 54.7% had ≥ 40-pack year smoking history. 36.8% did not have pathologic confirmation. With a median follow-up of 24 months, three-year local control (LC), disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 92.4%, 81.0%, and 80.0%, respectively. Rates of Grade 1 and 2 toxicity were 21.9% and 6.7% and no patients experienced Grade ≥ 3 toxicity. Conclusions In our military setting with universal coverage and routine multidisciplinary care, lung SBRT provides outcomes comparable to prospective studies conducted at high-volume academic centers. More than one-third of patients were treated empirically without pathologic confirmation of disease, demonstrating a difference between clinical trials and community practice. Further investigation is warranted to integrate multidisciplinary management and achieve equal access to care to bridge existing health disparities in the community setting.

oronavirus (COVID-19) has caused marked impact on graduate medical education for all medical specialties. Radiation Oncology and the American Board of Radiology have also had to rapidly adapt to converting education and examinations to virtual platforms. We describe our small pilot experience in transitioning our in-person mock oral examinations to a virtual platform. Survey-based assessment revealed excellent feedback regarding ease of use and educational usefulness. Our mock oral examinations pilot experience adds to evidence that virtual mock oral examinations are an important considerationfor Radiation Oncology education and a feasible alternative to an in-person oral examination.

Patients with lymph-node positive prostate cancer are often treated with external beam radiotherapy with androgen deprivation therapy 1 , but are expected to have a high rate of biochemical failure. Recently, MRI and molecular imaging have afforded the opportunity to elucidate otherwise occult sites of recurrence after conventional imaging. We present an unusual case of local failure within the prostate after definitive radiation treatment of lymph-node positive prostate cancer, in which advanced imaging allowed for a potentially curative salvage treatment option.

Leptospirosis and dengue are two commonly seen infectious diseases of the tropics. Differential diagnosis of leptospirosis from dengue fever is often difficult due to overlapping clinical symptoms and lack of economically viable and easy-to-perform laboratory tests. The gold standard for diagnosis is the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). In this study, the diagnostic potential of screening for pathogen-specific leptospiral antigens in urine samples is presented as a non-invasive method of disease diagnosis. In a study group of 40 patients, the serum was tested for anti-leptospiral antibodies by MAT and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Urine of these patients was screened for leptospiral antigens by ELISA using specific antibodies against LipL32, LipL41, Fla1, HbpA and sphingomyelinase. Group I patients (n = 23) were classified as leptospirosis-positive based on MAT and high titres of circulating IgM-specific anti-leptospiral antibodies. All of these patients excreted all five leptospiral antigens in the urine. The 17 MAT-negative cases included six patients with pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO; Group II) and 11 confirmed dengue patients (Group III). The latter tested negative for both serum anti-leptospiral antibodies and urinary leptospiral antigens. A salient outcome of this study was highlighting the usefulness of screening for urinary leptospiral antigens in disease diagnosis, as their presence confirmed leptospiral aetiology in two PUO patients. Immunoblots of urinary antigens identified well-defined bands corresponding to LipL32, HbpA and sphingomyelinase; the significance of the 42- and 58-kDa sphingomyelinase bands is discussed.

Canine babesiosis is a worldwide tick borne disease. Dogs with fever, in appetence and enlarged lymph nodes were screened for the presence of haemoprotozoan parasites during the one year period of study at T.V.C.C., C.V.Sc., Mhow (M.P. , India ). Based on the stained peripheral blood smears examination, dogs were found to be affected with babesiosis. Clinical examination of the dogs revealed ticks over the body, highest frequency (75.00%) of petechial/epistaxis followed by ticks (72.22%) on the body, recumbency (69.44%), dullness (66.66%), dehydration (63.88%), pale mucous membrane (50.00%) . Sonographic changes in dogs infected with babesiosis revealed hepatomegaly with architectural changes, hypo-echoic changes in the liver parenchyma in 7 dogs, splenomegaly with disturbed architecture and multiple lesions was observed in 9 dogs, cystitis in 5 dogs , distended gall bladder in 3 dogs and in 4 dogs Kidneys structures were not clear in image and no demarcation noticed between cortex and medulla.

Introduction Combined radiotherapy and hormonal treatment are recommended for intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer (CaP). This study compared the long-term effects on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of intermediate- and high-risk CaP patients managed with radiation therapy (RT) with vs. without hormone therapy (HT). Methods Patients with intermediate- and high-risk CaP enrolled in the Center for Prostate Disease Research diagnosed from 2007 to 2017 were included. EPIC and SF-36 questionnaires were completed and HRQoL scores were compared for patients receiving RT vs. RT + HT at baseline (pretreatment), 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months after CaP diagnosis. Longitudinal patterns of change in HRQoL were modeled using linear regression models, adjusting for baseline HRQoL, age at CaP diagnosis, race, comorbidities, National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) risk stratum, time to treatment, and follow-up time. Results Of 164 patients, 93 (56.7%) received RT alone and 71 (43.3%) received RT + HT. Both groups reported comparable baseline HRQoL. Patients receiving RT+HT were more likely to be NCCN high risk as compared to those receiving only RT. The RT + HT patients experienced worse sexual function, hormonal function, and hormonal bother than those who only received RT; however, HRQoL recovered over time for the RT + HT group. No significant differences were observed between groups in urinary and bowel domains or SF-36 mental and physical scores. Conclusion Combined RT + HT treatment was associated with temporary lower scores in sexual and hormonal HRQoL compared with RT only. Intermediate- and high-risk CaP patients should be counseled about the possible declines in HRQoL associated with HT.

Perinatal mortality in twins is found to vary widely in six developed countries for which national data are available. The influence of factors such as birth weight, maternal age, and parity is examined, but no consistent trend is found.

Proper assessment of a child's growth as time passes is essential as a guide for treatment of disease or disability. The best possible progress for the child who has genetic or acquired handicaps is promoted in various ways, but principally by helping the parents to understand the particular needs of their child at each stage and to protect it from unfavourable environmental influences. A knowledge of growth and development of the child is of basic importance to the physician who would attempt to care for children and to advise parents as to normality of their progress. The index developed here is a step towards this goal. It helps the physician to assess the growth of the child from the clinical point of view and the parents to evaluate the development of their child. It is hoped that the index will increase the knowledge of both the physician and the parents in understanding the growth pattern of children.