A wave of technological advances in radiation oncology, including automated contouring, scripting, and AI-based treatment planning, promise improvements in workflow efficiency to respond to the persistent pressure to do things faster and to get more done with fewer resources. This cycle has played out in other industries, and we can learn from their experiences. In the early 1980s, manufacturing plants were grappling with how best to integrate rapid advances in robotics and automation into production lines. Eliyaho Goldratt guided them through this challenge using the theory of constraints and other practices in his book The Goal. Then companies found themselves struggling with an increasing reliance on custom software development and cumbersome information technology (IT) operations. In 2013, authors of The Phoenix Project adapted the teaching of Dr. Goldratt to the emerging world of Dev Ops, again serving as a guide for the integration of new technologies and techniques.

This 4.5-day Summer School will apply these lessons to radiation oncology workflows and explore meaningful avenues to integrate technology into daily operations. Participants will be exposed to the basics of operations theory, as well as project, change and resource management. They will be introduced to techniques for modeling and monitoring workflows as well as implementation strategies for hot topic tools such as auto-contouring, automated planning, and scripting. Didactic presentations will be augmented with hands-on participation, panel discussions, and two nights of show and tell highlighting optimization tools and success stories. Clinics are encouraged to send multi-disciplinary teams, as attendees will work together, with the aid of the faculty, to examine issues of specific concern and will return to their clinics with the skills to identify opportunities for improvements and the connections and resources to succeed in doing so.

This Summer School is being led by Program Directors:

• Colleen Fox, PhD, DABR, Dartmouth Health
• Reshma Munbodh, PhD, DABR, Smilow Cancer Hospital at Saint Francis Hospital

What people are saying about past Summer Schools:

• Summer School was my favorite professional meeting that I have ever attended. The atmosphere was friendly/inviting, which made it easier to connect with others and learn new topics.
• It was a great learning and networking opportunity.
• The AAPM Summer School is the deepest dive on a single topic available among all three AAPM meetings. I felt it was very comprehensive and everyone is there for similar reasons, so it provides an atmosphere of similarity.
• This was a wonderful Summer School. I learned so much and it was so valuable.
• Summer School was one of the best meetings I have been to.
• I've been to two summer schools, and they've been the best meetings I’ve attended in my 15-year career so far. I will likely make the Summer School one of my top meeting choices every year.
• I am telling all of my friends/colleagues that Summer Schools are a blast and super valuable. I enjoyed it more than any other professional meeting I've been to.