What You Should Know About Radiation Oncology: A Podcast with Anish Butala, Emily Martin and Evie Kalmar

What You Should Know About Radiation Oncology: A Podcast with Anish Butala, Emily Martin and Evie Kalmar

Author: Alex Smith, Eric Widera June 12, 2025 Duration: 49:44

If you're anything like me, you might find the process of what happens to patients when they visit a radiation oncologist somewhat mysterious. During my training, I didn't receive much education about radiation oncology, and I'm not entirely sure what some of the terms mean (hypofractionated means fewer sessions, right?). Well, today's podcast aims to clear up all these uncertainties.

We've invited Anish Butala, the Chief of the Palliative Radiotherapy Service at Penn Medicine, and Emily Martin, a palliative care doctor and past president of the Society for Palliative Radiation Oncology (SPRO), to explain everything we should know about radiation oncology. Additionally, Evie Kalmar, who suggested today's topic, will join us as one of our guest hosts.

Tune in and we will walk you through the patient's journey from the initial planning visit to the final treatment, discuss common indications like bone and brain metastases, hear about when to consider steroid therapy, and highlight radiation therapy emergencies.


Hosted by UCSF physicians Alex Smith and Eric Widera, GeriPal-A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast creates a vital space for conversation at the intersection of aging and serious illness care. This isn't a dry lecture series; it's a dynamic dialogue where Eric and Alex bring on leading experts to unpack the complexities of geriatric and palliative medicine. They delve into the latest research that should change practice, tackle the ethical dilemmas that provoke debate, and explore the nuanced clinical challenges that professionals face daily. The tone is engaging and often surprisingly lighthearted, with moments of humor and even the occasional song, making profound topics more accessible. Whether you're a clinician, nurse, social worker, or any professional dedicated to this field, this podcast offers a blend of evidence-based insights and practical wisdom you can use. It’s a resource that acknowledges the weight of the work while fostering connection and continued learning. For those seeking formal education credits, AMA PRA Category 1 CME and MOC credit are also available through the show. Tune in to join a community committed to improving care for older adults and those with serious illness.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Embedding Care in the ED: Liz Goldberg and Lauren Southerland [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:15
The idea of embedding various forms of non-emergency care in the emergency department makes a WORLD of sense. If an older adult comes into the ED with a fall, the minimum the ED has to do is address the fall injury and s…
AI and Healthcare: Bob Wachter [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:28
Today we interviewed Bob Wachter about his book, "A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future." You may recall we interviewed Bob in April 2024 about AI, and at that time he was on…
Uncertainty In Medicine: Jonathan Ilgen and Gurpreet Dhaliwal [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:12
The only certainty in medicine is uncertainty. It touches every aspect of clinical practice, from diagnosis to treatment to prognosis. Despite this, many clinicians view uncertainty as something to tolerate at best or el…
Inflammaging: Brian Andonian, Sara LaHue, Joe Hippensteel [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:51
Six years ago we had John Newman on GeriPal to talk about Geroscience (Song choice Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen, perfect selection). John explained the basics of geroscience, what is it, what are the key theories i…