Radi­a­tion Oncol­o­gy Team

Radiation oncologists are physicians who oversee the care of each cancer patient undergoing radiation treatment. After determining whether a patient is a candidate for radiation therapy, they review the side effects and benefits of treatment with the patient.

Onslow Radiation Oncology's radiation oncologist is Dr. Darrel Ross.

This individual is a Board Certified Radiation Therapist that has the responsibility of daily operations of the entire department. She will insure that your treatments are scheduled and necessary pre-authorizations have been obtained. She coordinates our oncology quality and certification systems that are in place.

These highly trained people are often the first person you come in contact with at our center. They have taken your health information from the referring physician’s office and place it in our Electronic Health Record. The can assist you in locating other services within or outside the hospital that you may need help with. They will help schedule your initial and subsequent follow-ups in our office. Pre-Authorization for services has become routine in the medicine these days. Our staff will assist you in obtaining those authorizations if needed. They will also help schedule other oncology physician/service appointments.

Radiation therapists work together with the radiation oncologist to deliver the daily radiation treatments that have been prescribed by your physician. These therapists are certified by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and deliver your daily radiation treatments. At least (2) two therapists will be involved in your daily treatments. They also perform daily quality checks on the treatment machines to insure treatment machine is maintaining the highest standards. Radiation therapists will also monitor side effects during your treatments to alert the doctor to any problems you may be experiencing.

A dosimetrist is Board Certified in the field of Medical Dosimetry. They will acquire CT, MRI, PET/CT and Bone Scan images to help develop a plan of treatment specific to your needs. The dosimetrist is responsible to create a treatment plan based on the parameters that the physician has written and maintains normal tissue constraints. The dosimetrist, along with the radiation oncologist, will create a computer based treatment plan designed to effectively destroy cancer cells, while sparing as much normal tissue as possible.

These certified nurse’s specialize in the care of the cancer patient and family. They work together with the radiation oncologist and the radiation therapists to coordinate the care. They will begin caring for you at the time of your consultation and throughout the radiation treatment process. Along with the doctor, they will help explain possible side affects you may experience, and how to properly manage them. They will help you cope with the changes you may experience and will provide support, a counseling and education to you and your family.

The Board Certified medical physicist will work with the radiation oncologist during your treatment planning and delivery. Their education is either a Masters or Doctorate Medical Physic degree. They are responsible for developing and directing quality control programs for the equipment and the treatment procedures we deliver. They maintain daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annual and annual quality measure reporting. They also take precise measurements of the radiation beam to make sure equipment is maintaining tight performance and quality tolerances. Our Medical physicists also oversee the work of the dosimetrist to properly tailor each complex treatment for that patient.

Other healthcare professionals may include social workers, nutritionists, physical therapist, speech therapist, home health and Hospice. Your primary care provider and specialty physicians will all be kept abreast of your treatment and follow-up Oncology progress.