Meet our ACRO Accreditation Team: Dr. Nadeem Khan

We're excited to introduce you to Nadeem Khan, DHA, MS, FACRO, one of our ACRO Accreditation Physics Surveyors. He answered a few questions about his career and service to ACRO Accreditation:

Q: Please share your professional information and what led you to choose a career in the radiation oncology field. 
NK: Nadeem Khan. I am a Chief Medical Physicist & Leadership Committee member for Oncology Hematology Care (OHC) - a US Oncology group, based out of Cincinnati, OH. I give credit to my father for getting me into the field. I had taken a few years between undergraduate and graduate school working at Toronto City Hall. My father advised me of this field called Medical Physics that combined physics with medicine and biology. It seemed very intriguing. I applied and enrolled in the program and have neither regretted nor looked back since then. The field of radiation oncology is unique where it combines the biological intricacies of the human body, the physics of radiation interaction and the medicine leading to treating cancer. Medical Physics is an underappreciated hybrid field encompassing several academic faculties.

Q: How did you become involved with the ACRO Accreditation program? 
NK: I had worked on getting several sites accredited during my tenure at a consulting group in NY. This expected assignment turned into a passion to strive for high quality assurance program, robust documentation and strict adherence to regulations. I reached out to the ACRO Physics Director, Dr. Claudio Sibata and asked him on the process to join the ACRO Physics Survey team. This was followed by several training sessions and culminated with my first solo survey for ACRO.

Q: What do you like best about working as a surveyor?
NK: The collegial discussions between colleagues is what impresses me the most in being a surveyor. The intellectual conversations, healthy discussions and understanding the other's point-of-view on any particular medical physics related subject makes every survey different from others. Being a surveyor further strengthen our commitment to read, understand and assess the value of new recommendations to the clinical processes. The notion of "If I don't buy it, how can I sell it?", is very relevant when we advocate for the requirements posted by ACRO. I have learned a lot from the practices I have surveyed and I hope I have imparted some knowledge to the practices themselves.

Q: Why do you think accreditation is important for practices?
NK: Accreditation should be looked as an opportunity to improve and elevate one's clinical quality assurance program. It should never be viewed as punitive or a disciplinary mechanism. If both the practice and the accreditor go in with the distinct goal of learning, enhancing, elevating and evaluating the clinical program, the rewards will extend well beyond the seal of approval from the accrediting body. It will ensure an external reassurance on the current processes in place in the practices and engage in a deeper understanding of the reasons behind certain policies in place.

Q: What are some tips you would share with practices going through accreditation?
NK: Though the practices go through accreditation once every 3-4 years, it is important for them to appreciate that quality assurance happens every day. If the practices keep up with their protocols on patient safety, procedures on quality assurance and follow their policies on the myriad of clinical activities, they will be in a strong position when it comes for accreditation (or re-accreditation). It is also important for both practices and surveyors to keep up with the latest guidelines that are published so that individual parties can evaluate the need of the renewed recommendations and the procedures to adopting them.

Q: What do you think differentiates the ACRO Accreditation program from other accrediting programs?
NK: ACRO is the only accreditation program that covers a comprehensive review process involving the radiation oncology team comprising of physician, physicist and administrator surveys. The ACRO program also closely aligns with published reports, guidelines and recommendations for policy and procedures. The ACRO requirements when updated are communicated to potential applicants and the process is run under complete transparency. Furthermore, ACRO's new Distinction in Stereotactic Radiotherapy accreditation testifies to our stakeholders that ACRO is evolving as the field of radiation oncology also changes. Over the years ACRO has definitely made an everlasting mark in the field of accreditation and more specifically in radiation oncology.