Why is RO so disproportionately online?

[deleted1111261]

Not a judgement, but ..

- Twitter - ASTRO had multiple events and social champions; people literally able to get jobs via this medium; some of the change that has been done has come via Twitter activism

- SDN - a great site for all things Health, but for the size of our specialty, such a busy forum.

- TheMedNet - fantastic, useful resource that many academics and community docs use

- QuadShot - incredibly practical headlines and blurbs every single day

I follow a good bit of medical social media and I think don’t it’s bias. Remember after match, the medical world was like “whoa whoa whoa Rad Onc world is on 🔥”

What’s behind this? Maybe because we are so small, this is the best way to communicate and to learn and to get things done ?

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[Mandelin Rain]

Not. Busy. Enough.

 

[fiji128]

Not a judgement, but ..

- Twitter - ASTRO had multiple events and social champions; people literally able to get jobs via this medium; some of the change that has been done has come via Twitter activism

- SDN - a great site for all things Health, but for the size of our specialty, such a busy forum.

- TheMedNet - fantastic, useful resource that many academics and community docs use

- QuadShot - incredibly practical headlines and blurbs every single day

I follow a good bit of medical social media and I think don’t it’s bias. Remember after match, the medical world was like “whoa whoa whoa Rad Onc world is on 🔥”

What’s behind this? Maybe because we are so small, this is the best way to communicate and to learn and to get things done ?

I attribute this to lots of down time in-between patients compared to other specialties. Most of us are not seeing 40 follow up in a day like they do in PCP and surgery clinics.

 

[OTN]

Screens are our ORs, and it's easy to keep a window to the internet open on one of them. I'm busy at work and still find time to blather here as I'm sure has been noted.

 

[elementaryschooleconomics]

I have always thought it's because we're so small and have weak professional societies (and, as @OTN notes, most of our job is on a computer which makes this much easier).

As a consequence of our size, many of us are the only RadOnc in a large geographic region. For example, right now, I'm solo staffing my hospital. Unless someone is on a road trip and driving near me, the next closest RadOnc is 30 minutes away (and part of my group). Even "big" academic departments still might only have 1-2 dozen docs. If I want to talk about issues in my community, I have to go online. This isn't true for a lot of the bigger specialties.

As has come up frequently on here the last couple weeks, our only society of any notable size and activity is ASTRO, with ACRO a distant second. Outside of those two, I would guess SWRO is probably the most active/supportive version of a formalized society/group/whatever you want to call it that we have right now. Other specialties seem like they have a lot more organizations and choices to connect and build a community with each other outside of "regular" online platforms.

I don't know if we're abnormally active online per se, or that our choices for online activity are through public platforms that anyone can see, compared to like, the Medical Physics listservs or maybe a bunch of Pediatricians with WhatsApp in the same town.

 

[deleted1111261]

I have always thought it's because we're so small and have weak professional societies (and, as @OTN notes, most of our job is on a computer which makes this much easier).

As a consequence of our size, many of us are the only RadOnc in a large geographic region. For example, right now, I'm solo staffing my hospital. Unless someone is on a road trip and driving near me, the next closest RadOnc is 30 minutes away (and part of my group). Even "big" academic departments still might only have 1-2 dozen docs. If I want to talk about issues in my community, I have to go online. This isn't true for a lot of the bigger specialties.

As has come up frequently on here the last couple weeks, our only society of any notable size and activity is ASTRO, with ACRO a distant second. Outside of those two, I would guess SWRO is probably the most active/supportive version of a formalized society/group/whatever you want to call it that we have right now. Other specialties seem like they have a lot more organizations and choices to connect and build a community with each other outside of "regular" online platforms.

I don't know if we're abnormally active online per se, or that our choices for online activity are through public platforms that anyone can see, compared to like, the Medical Physics listservs or maybe a bunch of Pediatricians with WhatsApp in the same town.

Id suggest we are also more likely to text or email our friends, colleagues, mentors about cases. Very collaborative. Or wimpy?

 

[radiaterMike]

you forgot ASTROHub where some postings do not get censored

 

[Ray D. Ayshun]

For me, it's the only way I can talk to another rad onc. We single docs need ways to confirm we're not killing people.