Before entering the program, residents complete an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-acceptable first year of training at a program of their choice.

The second year of residency builds on the fundamentals learned during the first year, with reinforcement in the basic clinical areas and new experience in more specialized areas of radiation oncology. Added responsibility includes medical student oversight and responsible physician duties. The second year of residency is designed to provide more independence for the resident in the simulator and with on-treatment patient management, and increased familiarity with the clinical aspects of additional disease sites. By the end of the second year, the resident research project should be initiated, with interim goals established.

In their third year, residents are expected to be more independent with respect to the simulation of patients, on-treatment patient management, and clinical aspects of disease sites; however, they always have faculty supervision. It is understood that the third year resident will direct attention towards preparation for the ABR written examination in physics and radiobiology.

The fourth year resident should be functioning independently with regard to all aspects of patient care and with infrequent faculty correction. At the conclusion of the fourth year, the resident will have met all of the requirements necessary to become board certified in the field of Radiation Oncology.