Radiation Oncology

Mission

Radiation Oncology at the McGuire Veterans Medical center is proud to cater to the needs of our Veterans. Our mission is to provide most suitable, efficient, and state of the art treatment to our patients and to pursue excellence in educational and medical services.

Medical Center: The McGuire VA Medical Center offers treatment for a variety of cancers. There are specialists in surgery, radiation oncology and medical oncology. The different specialties work together in a multi-disciplinary patient care environment to ensure the highest standard of care for our Veterans.

Affiliation: The McGuire VA Medical Center is affiliated with the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, which is a National Cancer Institute designated cancer center.

Our Physicians

Michael Chang, MD - Service Chief
Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University
Internship: Portsmouth Naval Medical Center
Medical School: Thomas Jefferson University

Dr. Chang received his bachelor's degree in microbiology from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia in 1997. He completed his internal medicine internship at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center. He served with the 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa, Japan in 1998 and the Sewell’s Point Naval Medical Clinic until 2001 with the US Navy. He went on to complete his residency in radiation oncology at Virginia Commonwealth University and was named chief resident in his final year. He completed his training with a clinical rotation at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam. His clinical and research interests focus on the use of hypo-fractionated radiotherapy in the treatment of prostate and lung cancer.  He is a member of the VA Radiation Oncology Field Advisory Committee, and serves on numerous committees within the medical center and VA National Oncology Community.

Matthew Schutzer, MD–Residency Program Site Director
Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University
Internship: University of Maryland Medical Center
Medical School: The Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University

Dr. Schutzer is a graduate of The Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University. He completed residency training in radiation oncology at Virginia Commonwealth University after an internal medicine internship at The University of Maryland. He is the residency program site director at McGuire VAMC and an Associate Professor at VCU. He specializes in head and neck cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and GI malignancies. His research interests include value based healthcare, prostate brachytherapy, and quality of life after prostate cancer treatment. Before medical school, Dr. Schutzer spent a year in Munich, Germany as a Fulbright Scholar at Ludwig Maximillians University. There, he conducted research on magnetic resonance imaging. He then continued his time abroad, working as a research fellow and anatomy instructor at Paracelsus Private Medical University in Salzburg, Austria. He is originally from West Hartford, CT and currently lives in Richmond with his wife, Allison.

Hann-Hsiang “George” Chao, MD, PhD
Residency: University of Pennsylvania
Internship: University of Pennsylvania
Medical School: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Graduate School:  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Chao received his bachelor's degree in economics-management concentration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He went on to receive his PhD studying DNA damage repair pathways in breast cancer and his medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2014.  He completed his internal medicine internship and radiation oncology residency at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was also Chief Resident in radiation oncology. He has a clinical focus on head and neck, lung, genitourinary, lymphoid malignancies, and palliative radiation. His research focus also includes these malignancies as well as an interest in oligometastatic disease and radiation-related fatigue. 

Sarah Hazell, MD
Residency: Johns Hopkins Hospital
Internship: Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore MD
Medical School: Virginia Commonwealth University

Dr. Hazell received her bachelor's degree in cognitive science from University of Virginia and her medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine internship at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore and her residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She specializes in breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and GI malignancies. Her research interests include financial toxicity of cancer therapy, improving health care delivery models, palliative care, and quality of life. She has special interest in end of life care as well as Women’s Health within the VA. She is a Richmond native and lives here with her husband and son.  

Our Staff

4  Radiation oncologists
6 Radiation therapists
1 Chief radiation therapist
4 Medical Physicists
1 Chief Physicist
2 Dosimetrists
2 Nurse practitioners
1 Administrative officer
3 Patient support staff
3 Clinic nurses
3 Researchers

Radiation Therapy Services

• Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)
• Intracranial Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS)
• Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT)
• Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy (SABR)
• Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT)
• Low-dose Rate (LDR) Definitive and Salvage Brachytherapy for Prostate Cancer
• 4D Imaging for Respiratory Motion Management

Our Equipment

• Varian CL-6EX    Linear Accelerator with EPID
• Varian Truebeam   kV/CBCT
• Siemens Somatom Confidence 20 CT-Simulator
• Hitachi Ultrasound - brachytherapy       
• BrainLab ExacTrac  - Stereotactic radiosurgery

What to expect

At McGuire VA Medical Center, we look forward to serving our Veterans. A patient visit to our service includes:

• A comprehensive consultation and evaluation to determine the most suitable treatment for any cancer patient. 
• Lodging services are available for eligible patients.