Naval Officer Taps Continuing Medical Education at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute
A vital part of the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute is education. In fact, in its 18-year history, the Institute has trained more than 100 people in the field of radiation oncology and proton therapy, including medical students, fellows and visiting physicians and physicists. Unique among the training programs is an agreement between the University of Florida and the U.S. Navy to provide ongoing training for medical officers.
Jacksonville, Fla., is home to the Institute, as well as several significant Navy bases, including Naval Station Mayport and Naval Air Station Jacksonville. About 40 miles northeast of Jacksonville is St. Mary’s, Ga., and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, which is the homeport of the nuclear-powered submarine force in the Southeast.
This spring, the Institute welcomed the opportunity to partner with a Navy Radiation Oncologist. Cmdr. Kevin Conley, MD, is the Senior Medical Officer for Submarine Group 10 based in Kings Bay, where he leads a team of 30 physicians, psychologists, highly trained independent duty corpsmen and junior medics. He is working one day each week at the Institute alongside radiation oncologist Roi Dagan, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology, UF College of Medicine. Through this partnership, Dr. Conley will continue to grow his radiation oncology skills and learn new leading-edge technologies that the Institute has to offer.
Dr. Conley, recently selected for promotion to Navy Captain, has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, a medical degree from UF and trained as a radiation oncologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Throughout, he has served in the Navy and had additional medical training and experience as a general practitioner and as an Undersea Medical Officer.
Although his interest in undersea operations was ingrained early in life, (his father was a Navy diver), Dr. Conley became interested in pursuing a radiation oncology specialty during his submarine training at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute in Groton, CT. “All U.S. submarines are nuclear powered, so we learn the theory behind radiation exposure,” said Dr. Conley. Those lessons in radiobiology piqued his interest in the application of radiation in treating cancer patients. “It’s like being a surgeon with a radiation beam, such as protons, and a computer instead of a scalpel and an operating room,” he said.
His medical education included learning about the theory of protons, though the opportunity for hands-on training wasn’t possible because proton facilities were still under construction when he graduated residency at Johns Hopkins in 2018. “It’s a privilege to work with UF, my alma mater, and it’s a privilege to have experience at the proton institute during my time in the Navy. I’m grateful for the opportunity and for the opportunity to serve cancer patients during this submarine tour,” he said.