Citations

Abstract Clinical medical physics is a profession that intersects with various groups as part of a broader healthcare team, including dosimetrists, radiation therapists, radiologic and MRI technologists, IT specialists, and physicians. Success in this field requires academic and technical excellence as well as comprehensive skills for working effectively within an interdisciplinary healthcare team. When hiring medical physics residents, the selection of well‐rounded and highly qualified candidates can be facilitated through a holistic review process that ensures consideration of traditional metrics such as academic performance while also accounting for the importance of various experiences, personal attributes, and intrinsic motivations that impact clinical performance and patient care. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) emphasizes an overall consideration of Experiences, Attributes, Competencies, and Metrics (EACM) as important for the search process. As part of the healthcare community, medical physics shares the same commitment to high‐quality patient care. By adopting the AAMC's EACM framework, medical physics residency programs can strengthen the fairness, rigor, and overall effectiveness of their application review processes—ultimately benefiting applicants, the medical physics community, and the patients we serve. This Society of Directors of Academic Medical Physics Programs (SDAMPP) task report aims to provide information and resources for applying holistic review to the applicant selection process for medical physics residency programs. Our objective is to enable program directors to reevaluate their selection methods in the context of institutional and program missions and goals and to improve the quality and specificity of recruitment by integrating holistic review concepts into their residency recruitment processes. This initiative can inspire change in recruitment practices, aid programs in hiring well‐rounded and well‐qualified residents, and support the professional growth of our trainees in healthcare. This report provides an overview of holistic reviews and its core principles. We review the current literature and provide evidence from successful implementations of holistic review in other medical fields to illustrate how it can benefit our field. Furthermore, we outline actionable recommendations to facilitate transitioning to a holistic review framework and address potential barriers with practical solutions. A supplemental workbook is provided to guide residency programs in developing their own holistic application review and interview processes. With this report, we aim to provide practical implementation guidelines that will allow residency program directors to implement a selection methodology that comprehensively assesses the full qualifications of individual candidates and ultimately fosters the development of versatile and competent clinical medical physicists who are best equipped to advance the field, meet patient needs, and improve patient care.

Background/Objectives: Speech perception is measured in quiet and in the presence of background noise, such as multi-talker babble (MTB), to establish cochlear implant (CI) candidacy and measure post-operative outcomes. Testing protocols often use interrupted noise that begins just before and ends shortly after the target sentence, providing insufficient time for the noise-reduction algorithms to activate in the hearing device and provide an improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Furthermore, interrupted noise does not allow the hearing-impaired user to acclimatize to the abrupt onset of noise or to focus on the target sentence, a challenge related to auditory stream segregation. The present study compares speech perception in bimodal CI users across interrupted and continuous MTB noise conditions to highlight performance differences between these two distinct listening environments. Methods: Speech perception was evaluated for two different bimodal CI groups. Group 1: This group evaluated an automatic hearing aid program across three environments: quiet, continuous MTB, and interrupted MTB. Group 2: This group evaluated two manual hearing aid programs across the same three environments (quiet, continuous, and interrupted MTB). Results: For Group 1, scores in quiet reached 88%, significantly declined in interrupted MTB (38%), but improved in continuous MTB (67%). For Group 2, no significant mean differences were found between interrupted and continuous noise across the two manual programs, though individual variations persisted. Conclusions: Based on the findings of this study, continuous noise rather than interrupted noise should be utilized for establishing CI candidacy and evaluating post-implantation speech perception.

Abstract Repetitive head impacts sustained during American football have been associated with neuropathological changes such as white matter shear injuries. However, the impact of specific factors, such as age of first exposure and cumulative head impact burden, on white matter integrity remains unclear. This study investigated in vivo white matter microstructural changes using diffusion tensor imaging and tract-based spatial statistics in 165 male former American football players (mean age 57.3 years, range 45–74) and 52 unexposed asymptomatic male controls (mean age 59.4 years, range 45–74) in the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project. Compared to controls, former football players exhibited significantly higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in 1.97% of the white matter skeleton (1552 voxels; Cohen’s d = 0.587) and higher tissue-corrected FA (FAt) in 1.48% of the white matter skeleton (1004 voxels; Cohen’s d = 0.616). No significant differences were observed for mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, radial diffusivity, or free water between football players and controls. Among football players, there were no significant differences in the white matter microstructure between players diagnosed with traumatic encephalopathy syndrome and those without the diagnosis. Lower FA was significantly associated with older age (P < 0.00001) and an earlier age of first exposure to tackle football (P < 0.01), while lower FAt was associated with greater cumulative head impact burden, specifically higher linear acceleration (P < 0.04) and rotational force (P < 0.02). This study highlights the influential role of exposure factors on white matter microstructure in former American football players, as well as the utility of diffusion tensor imaging to aid in characterizing the long-term effects of repetitive head impacts in contact sport athletes.

9007 Background: Since transition to virtual interviews, application and interview inflation have increased the work burden of GME recruitment. In 2021, AAMC ERAS implemented a process that allows applicants to assign signals to top programs of interest. There is a paucity of guidance on optimal use of ERAS signals (ES), resulting in apprehension and uncertainty amongst applicants and program directors (PD). For the 2026 ERAS cycle, Hematology/Oncology programs (HOP) had the option to participate in ES, in which applicants are provided 5 gold (G) signals and 15 silver (S) signals. First-hand knowledge on how ES was utilized by HOP, as well as PD perceptions about ES, may guide best practices on ES. Methods: During the ASCO Oncology Training Program Leadership Retreat in November 2025, an anonymous survey, assessing HOP utilization and perception of ES, and the impact of ES on recruitment practices, was launched. One PD from each HOP was invited to complete the survey while onsite. Results: 88 HOP (46% of ACGME HOP) are represented. 97% (n=85) utilized ES. Of HOP who used ES, 74% are academic. 32% are small (1-9 fellows), 43% medium (10-19 fellows), and 25% large (20+ fellows). 79% received 400+ applications. 69% reviewed applications without signals but gave higher consideration to signaled applicants. 25% only reviewed applications with signals. 28% used ES when creating rank list; 45% think ES utilization is appropriate during ranking. 85% reported ES did not alter their approach to applicants requiring visa sponsorship. 78% felt ES made the interview selection process easier. 66% were more satisfied with this year’s recruitment process compared to years without ES. The most requested change to ES was reduction of allowed signals, especially silver. 98% will use ES next year. Conclusions: Despite limited knowledge on ES impact on recruitment, nearly all surveyed HOP participated in ES this past year and will continue. Most HOP view ES positively though many desire changes, particularly with the number of signals. Most HOP consider all applications regardless of ES. However, some HOP with larger applicant pool are using ES as inclusion criteria for interview consideration. Signals are a strong predictor for interview invitation when internal selection criteria are met. The “borderline” applicant may be the greatest benefactor from ES, viewed similarly to the non-signaled applicant who meets internal selection criteria. Sharing PD perspectives and real-life data from this year’s ES process breeds opportunities for further improvement and increased confidence with ES. Likelihood HOP offer interview invitation based on quality of application and signals (%, n=85). Internal Selection Criteria Signal Extremely Likely Likely Neutral Unlikely Extremely Unlikely Met G 73 22 5 0 0 S 42 47 8 2 1 None 8 27 24 22 19 Nearly met G 4 35 39 19 3 S 0 9 52 28 11 Not met G 0 2 12 41 45 S 1 1 6 30 62

4559 Background: Baseline QOL has been linked to survival in mRCC therapy clinical trials (Cella, 2024); however, there is a paucity of prospectively collected real-world QOL data across front-line management strategies. We used data from ODYSSEY to examine the relationship between baseline QOL and early death. Methods: ODYSSEY is a multi-site, prospective observational study of 468 US pts with mRCC. Pts must have mRCC (any histology); have no prior systemic therapy (ST) or be within 3 months of starting ST; and follow up at a PCORnet study site. Exclusion criteria include treatment for cancer except mRCC. The primary objective is to determine patterns of change in QOL and symptom burden of pts with mRCC. Early death was defined as death within 12 months post-enrollment. All pts with non-missing FKSI-19 or FKSI-DRS at enrollment were included. Cumulative event probabilities as a function of time were stratified by either < or ≥ median QoL value and plotted as a step function vs time since enrollment to create cumulative event curves. To determine association between QoL at enrollment and early death, separate Cox proportional hazards models (unadjusted and adjusted) for time-to-first-event as a function of baseline QoL were fit. The adjusted model controlled for the following baseline covariates: IMDC risk (favorable vs intermediate or poor), histology (clear cell vs non). Results: As of 1/5/26, 468 pts were enrolled; 425 had non-missing FKSI-19 or FKSI-DRS at enrollment (329 immediate ST, 96 deferred ST [DST]). ST included 129 IO-IO, 108 IO-TKI, 92 Other. DST included 57 Active Surveillance, 22 Local Therapy Planned, 17 Other/Missing. 209 and 190 pts have < median FKSI-19 (score = 59) and FKSI-DRS (score = 29), respectively; 216 and 235 pts have ≥ median FKSI-19 and FKSI-DRS, respectively. Those below the median have lower rates of nephrectomy, worse IMDC risk and KPS, shorter time since RCC diagnosis, and higher rates of bone metastasis (all p<0.05). Cumulative event probabilities for death at 12 months are 21% and 7% in those < and ≥ median baseline FKSI-19, respectively; and 21% and 7% in those < and ≥ median baseline FKSI-DRS, respectively. For FKSI-19, the unadjusted hazard ratio (HR) for early death is 0.55 (95% CI: 0.43 – 0.70; p<0.001) and adjusted HR is 0.65 (0.49 – 0.85; p = 0.002) per 1 SD higher score. For FKSI-DRS, the unadjusted HR for early death is 0.57 (95% CI: 0.46 – 0.71; p<0.001) and adjusted HR is 0.66 (0.51 – 0.86; p =0.002) per 1 SD higher score (higher score indicates better QOL). Conclusions: Across management strategies in our ODYSSEY cohort of systemic therapy naïve mRCC patients, better baseline QOL was associated with better survival. This is to our knowledge the largest reported real world mRCC cohort with prospectively collected PROs. Future analyses will focus on association of outcomes with longitudinal PROs. Clinical trial information: NCT04919122 .

10043 Background: Tumor resection is a cornerstone of therapy for neuroblastoma (NB) and Wilms tumor (WT). Minimally invasive surgical approaches such as laparoscopic or robotic tumor resection hold promise to reduce surgical morbidity while maintaining excellent oncologic outcomes. This study aims to determine the utilization and outcomes of laparoscopic and robotic resection of NB and WT among children in a national cohort, hypothesizing that utilization is increasing over time and outcomes are not inferior to open resection. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis of patients <18 years old in the 2020-2023 National Cancer Database who underwent resection of NB or WT was performed. Surgical approach trends were assessed via Cochran-Armitage tests. Conversions to open surgery, length of stay (LOS), and readmissions were compared between approaches using Kruskal-Wallis, Chi-square, and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: Among 1,262 children who underwent resection of NB (n=581) or WT (n=681), open procedures were most common (83.4%), followed by laparoscopic (13.9%), and robotic (2.7%). Utilization of each approach was stable over time aside from increased robotic resection of NB from 0% to 4% (p=.024). Approach did not vary by patient age (Table 1). Median WT size and lymph node yield were similar between approaches (both p>.05). In NB, laparoscopic procedures were performed on smaller tumors than open or robotic (p<.001). There were no robotic conversions to open; 11.4% of laparoscopic procedures were converted without change over time or difference between NB and WT (both p>.05). Median LOS was greater for open procedures than laparoscopic or robotic (p<.001). Readmission rates (p=.64) and margin status (p=.63) were similar between approaches. Outcomes did not vary by diagnosis. Conclusions: Utilization of minimally invasive approaches for NB or WT resection remains low despite noninferior or improved outcomes. Efforts to safely increase utilization are needed, especially for robotics, so that survivorship can be improved through reduced surgical morbidity. Differences in patient characteristics and outcomes by surgical approach. Characteristic or Outcome Open Laparoscopic Robotic p value Age in years (median, IQR) 3 (1, 4) 3 (1, 5) 3 (1, 7) 0.08 % female 53% 53% 44% 0.59 NB tumor size in mm (median, IQR) 72 (50, 101) 47 (35, 71) 70 (51, 86) <0.001 WT tumor size in mm (median, IQR) 110 (75, 140) 115 (93, 150) 93 (54, 125) 0.10 % metastatic disease 33% 30% 15% 0.07 % neoadjuvant therapy 35% 27% 22% 0.014 % conversion to open n/a 11% 0% 0.05 Negative margins 86% 83% 96% 0.63 # Lymph nodes assessed in WT (median, IQR) 5 (3, 8) 6 (3, 10) 4 (3, 9) 0.62 LOS in days (median, IQR) 5 (4, 7) 4 (2, 6) 4 (1, 5) <0.001 % readmission 15% 14% 9% 0.64

ABSTRACT Attending conferences is a foundational component of professional growth in transplant infectious diseases (TIDs), yet trainees and early‐career faculty often face an overwhelming array of meeting options and limited guidance on how to maximize the experience. This report outlines practical strategies for selecting the most impactful conferences, preparing effectively, engaging with poster sessions, cultivating meaningful professional connections, and incorporating rest and reflection into conference travel. Unlike previous discussions hosted by the TID Early Career Network (TxIDECN), which typically occurred over social media, this was a live expert panel with audience participation at the 2025 Fred Hutch Symposium on Infectious Diseases in the Immunocompromised Host on May 13, 2025, in Seattle, Washington. Here, we summarize that discussion with actionable tools to navigate conferences intentionally and translate these experiences into sustained academic and career development for emerging TID professionals. image

Abstract Introduction Sleep regularity has been shown to be a stronger predictor of mortality compared to sleep duration, though the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of cardiac autonomic modulation, is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. While HRV is traditionally analyzed using linear methods (e.g., frequency-domain analyses), there is growing interest in nonlinear measures to assess the dynamic complexity of cardiac regulation. However, the influence of sleep regularity on both linear and nonlinear HRV is unclear. We therefore assessed the association between sleep regularity and HRV in healthy adults. Methods HRV was obtained in 12 participants (6 female) via electrocardiography during 10-min supine rest and assessed using linear (high frequency [HF]; low frequency [LF]/HF ratio) and nonlinear (detrended fluctuation analysis [DFA]-α1 and -α2) indices. Sleep regularity was quantified using the standard deviation (SD) of diary-determined sleep onset across ~14 days. Participants were classified as regular (SD&lt; 1h; n=5) or irregular sleepers (SD&gt;=1h; n=7). Irregular sleepers were instructed to maintain a consistent sleep onset (±30min) for 12-weeks. Differences between groups were assessed using independent t-tests and relationships between SD sleep onset and HRV were assessed using Pearson correlation analyses. Results There were no differences between groups in age (mean±SD, irregular vs. regular, respectively; 30.7±7.8 vs. 27.2±8.5y; p=0.23), sleep onset timing (24:38±1:45 vs. 23:37±1:14; p=0.14), or DFA-α2 (0.27±0.11 vs. 0.36±0.20; p=0.16). At baseline, irregular sleepers had higher SD sleep onset (1.4±0.4 vs. 0.8±0.2h; p&lt; 0.01), LF/HF ratio (2.4±1.8 vs. 0.6±0.5%; p=0.03), DFA-α1 (1.10±0.22 vs. 0.81±0.20; p=0.02), and lower HF (37.1±20.5 vs. 63.1±7.1nu; p=0.02). In the entire sample, SD sleep onset was inversely correlated with HF (r=-0.63; p=0.02) and positively correlated with LF/HF ratio (r=0.75; p&lt; 0.01) and DFA-α1(r=0.61; p=0.03) at baseline. At 12-weeks, the change in SD sleep onset was inversely correlated with change in HF (r=-0.79; p&lt; 0.01) and positively correlated with change in LF/HF ratio (r=0.77; p&lt; 0.01) and DFA-α1(r=0.66; p=0.01). Conclusion Irregular sleep patterns are associated with altered cardiac regulatory dynamics and may be one mechanism contributing to adverse outcomes. Improving sleep regularity may be a potential interventional target to improve the autonomic balance and cardiovascular adaptation. Support (if any)

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate intracochlear electrocochleography (ECochG) amplitude parameters during cochlear implantation (CI) using a novel multi‐frequency ECochG algorithm. Methods A multi‐institutional, prospective cohort study was performed at 18 high‐volume CI centers. The inclusion criteria were adults with sensorineural hearing loss and audiometric thresholds of ≤ 90 dB hearing level at 500 Hz undergoing CI with Advanced Bionics (Valencia, CA) Ultra 3D devices between 2024 and 2025. ECochG recordings were performed with simultaneous multi‐frequency stimulation of four frequencies between 125 and 4000 Hz during cochlear implant insertion. Concurrent multi‐frequency recording allowed extraction of amplitude and phase of each frequency individually. Post hoc analysis was performed to determine the difference in the number of drop alarms between single‐ and multi‐frequency ECochG. An ECochG amplitude drop of 6 dB was defined as a drop alarm. Insertion track patterns were compared between single‐ and multi‐frequency ECochG. Results One hundred ninety‐five ears were included. Mean number of drop alarms for the single‐frequency algorithm was 1.72 (95% CI: 1.52, 1.92; median 1) compared to 0.42 (95% CI: 0.31, 0.53; median 0) for multi‐frequency; p < 0.001. The number of Type C patterns (rise in amplitude during insertion followed by a drop) decreased with the multi‐frequency ECochG algorithm compared to the single‐frequency ECochG algorithm. The number of Type D patterns (no‐response) decreased, indicating that multi‐frequency ECochG generated more responses across the cochlea than single‐frequency ECochG. Conclusions A novel multi‐frequency ECochG algorithm during CI is associated with fewer drop alarms and altered insertion track patterns, which may provide a more accurate assessment of the cochlear microenvironment. Level of Evidence 3.

Abstract Different types of health care worker distress are often conflated. Understanding their distinctions helps customize support and encourages more exact terminology in academic discourse. While it is not necessary to diagnose a colleague to support them, it helps to have an awareness of unique struggles. This targeted support can be provided alongside universally caring approaches such as empathetic listening, encouraging professional support, maintaining confidentiality, seeking specialist advice, and destigmatizing mental health issues.