Keeping Radiation Safe: Todd Pawlicki and LINACs

05/16/23 • 43 min

Gordon Isaacs sat on a table at Stanford Medical School in 1955. A large linear accelerator shadowed behind him while he waited for treatment of the tumor growing in his retina. He made history as the first patient treated in the US with this radiation therapy approach. Linear Accelerators (LINACs) have come a long way since that time and have treated millions. How has there been so much success? The answer is a harmonization between quality and engineering.
Dr. Todd Pawlicki, Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences at UC San Diego's School of Medicine joins Leslie and I to talk LINACs, Quality, and the role of Physicists in healthcare. Dr. Pawlicki is an expert and leader in the field of radiation oncology (and quality nerd!). Click here to learn more about Dr. Pawlicki's work.
ASTRO is the group of professionals working to continue improving radiation therapy. They helped connect me to Dr. Pawlicki and are a great resource for professionals and patients!
Information for patients can be found here

Previous Episode

Therac 25 in the Classroom with Natalia Silvis-Cividjian

Scott Jerome Parks died in 2007 from a radiation overdose. His slow, agonizing death captured headlines. Headlines were followed by a congressional hearing, where his dad shared of Scott's suffering and the need for reform in medical device and radiation safety. As I learned of his story, it brought me to many more stories. The first being the Therac 25.
Natalia Silvis-Cividjian also found the story of the Therac 25. She too became captured and harnessed its lessons to teach students the importance of effective software testing. Natalia is a lecturer at the Vrije University in Amsterdam and joins me to talk about software, radiation, and the tragedy of the Therac 25.
To learn about Natalia's project to teach and preserve software bugs for teaching click here.

Next Episode

The Therapeutic Power of Stories.

“I will tell you something about stories. They aren't just entertainment. They are all we have to fight off illness and death. You don't have anything if you don't have stories.” ― Leslie Marmon Silko

The story of Scott Jerome Parks captivated me and the filled headlines in 2010. His story led me to connect with people around the US and world and, ultimately, to Dr. Joel Carter, a palliative care physician. While treating patients, Joel discovered that stories alone provided relief from pain and improved the well being of patients suffering in the end stages of cancer.
In this episode, Joel tells us the story which led him to this discovery. Deb Murphy and Pam McKenney also share their stories on overcoming cancer and how radiation treatment was a component in that fight. This podcast is all about sharing stories to encourage and educate those working to improve lives --let's continue our work of helping others make many more stories.

To learn more about Dr. Joel Carter, visit his website here: https://joelcartermd.com/