PAMF's Radiation Oncology Department is staffed by a dedicated team of physicians, physics and dosimetry staff members, therapists, nurses and administrative personnel. Each team member plays an integral role in giving patients the most comprehensive care possible. The group meets weekly to review all patient charts and emotional needs, ensuring that clinical and supportive care are integrated.

Physicians: Radiation oncologists coordinate patient care, working with other physicians to create individualized treatment plans and overseeing the rest of the therapy team. The department’s three radiation oncologists have significant experience in the field; Dr. Gordon Ray, the department head, has been with PAMF since 1975. To learn more about each of these physicians, click below.

Pauling Chang, M.D.
Robert E. Lundahl, M.D.
Gordon R. Ray, M.D.

Physicists/dosimetrists: Based on the treatment plan developed by the radiation oncologists, physicists and dosimetrists ensure that radiation beams are designed and calculated appropriately, and calibrate the machines used to deliver radiation therapy.

Radiation therapists: Radiation therapists set the patient up for treatment and run the equipment that delivers radiation.

Nurses: Nurses are primary points of contact for patients undergoing radiation oncology treatment. They provide an orientation to therapy, help patients manage side effects and ensure that patients’ emotional and supportive needs are fully addressed. Special “nurse navigators” are assigned to patients with cancers that require care by multiple clinical or ancillary departments, to help coordinate services for those patients.

Administrative personnel: Patient service representatives greet patients as they come into the department, keep contact information current, schedule upcoming appointments and help handle insurance issues.

The Radiation Oncology Department also works closely with physicians from other departments, including surgeons, medical oncologists, urologists and pathologists. An interdisciplinary general oncology meeting is held weekly, and a urology-oncology group meets once per month to discuss prostate cancer cases. PAMF has recently added clinicians specializing in breast and prostate cancer to the interdisciplinary cancer care team. PAMF’s electronic medical record also allows physicians within the Foundation’s Palo Alto and Camino Divisions to expedite referral of patients to the department.

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