I'm Tim Showalter. I'm a physician in the department of radiation oncology here at UVA and as a radiation oncologist, I focus primarily on genitourinary cancers like prostate cancer, gynecologic cancers like cervical cancer for example, as well as pediatric cancers and sarcoma. 

One of my primary areas of focus is in breaking therapy procedures, so I ... that's the branch of radiation oncology that involves implanting radiation ... or radioactive sources. As a radiation oncologist, it's really the only class of procedures that we do. It's something that I've been interested for a long time and I've made a focus of my practice since 2009. 

I have the chance to be involved really at the regional and national level in leading programs and offering the latest care for genitourinary cancers and GYN cancers. We have facilities here that are really unparalleled. 

For a lot of people, the trip to the radiation oncology department feels more like science fiction than anything else they've ever done in a hospital, so just to sit down and make sure that you understand what to expect the first day you come in for treatment, I think is very important. To have a clear discussion about what the expected potential side effects are and what the potential goals of therapy are, I think is really important.

One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is having a lot of time right up front when I first meet a patient. They've generally already recently been diagnosed with cancer and I get to counsel them on their treatment options. We also take care of a fair amount of patients who have been diagnosed with cancer for a while, and who have very advanced cancer and who have painful symptoms from that cancer, and radiation therapy's a very effective tool for helping with those symptoms. That's a rewarding part of the process, to really help someone feel better during their cancer treatment.