Varian (NYSE: VAR) and the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) announced today they have reached their first educational milestone at the Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC): more than 150 medical professionals have now completed training to deliver proton therapy – an advanced form of cancer treatment.

"Since well before we treated our first patients at MPTC, we have worked with Varian to create a diverse range of educational offerings targeted at physicians, physicists, dosimetrists, radiation therapists, and administrators from across the country and around the world," said Charles B. Simone, II, MD, medical director of MPTC and an associate professor of radiation oncology at UMSOM.

Over the past two years, MPTC has hosted professionals from the United States and 14 other countries. The center has offered:

• The Maryland Proton Clinical Course, open to physicians and physicists—an intensive one-week training program;
• Targeted clinical observation courses tailored to the needs of specific groups, including physicians, medical physicists and radiation therapists;
• Various visiting opportunities, including a two-day site program for radiation oncology professionals thinking about opening or preparing to new open centers.

These offerings, as well as informal visits, in addition to adjunct faculty training for nearby medical centers and radiation oncology practices, constitute the largest range of training opportunities and classes currently available for Varian proton therapy worldwide. MPTC is also planning a new dosimetry clinical school for Spring 2018.

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