Cancel Culture

[xrt123]

There is an article in Practical Radiation Oncology where Marcus Randall is indicating that he was the subject of cancel culture. I don't use Twitter or ASTRO HUB and it indicates it was anonymous so I am assuming SDN is a place where that may have occurred. Did I miss some threads where people were trying to cancel Marcus Randall?

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[CaesarRO]

It was well summarized by @elementaryschooleconomics in the twitter thread

 

[elementaryschooleconomics]

It was well summarized by @elementaryschooleconomics in the twitter thread

Here it is:

Rad Onc Twitter

Found it: Until last year I thought that cancel culture on social media was something that only affected celebrities and politicians. Then I became the target of a campaign that was personally insulting and professionally alarming. The issue is how some members of our profession react to...

forums.studentdoctor.net

I should have probably made it a separate post, but I didn't want that to be misconstrued as some weird cancel attempt as well...man, life is strange these days.

 

[Gfunk6]

Social media is a cancer. Keep your ****ing opinions to yourself then you can be a closet hater and nobody will know any better.

If you do post anything with your identifying information attached be polite, professional, and self-depreciating.

 

[Radonc90]

I am new to "Cancel Culture", so I am posting Wikipedia definition for others to learn as well:

Cancel culture - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

One thing I have learned from recent threads on "Cancel Culture" as published in Practical Rad Onc...
Don't cry in a professional journal, go inside your closet at home, far away from your spouse and cry.
Then come to SDN for forgiveness...
I believe most folks on SDN are great people, they will forgive...

 

[RSAOaky]

I just came across this via the most recent QuadShot and, if a misanthrope such as myself had any sway with PRO, I'd have the following to say in response.

Dear Marcus,

As a junior attending I am far closer to my residency than you, so perhaps things have changed in the decades since your training. However, as a young radiation oncologist this has been my experience over the last 10 years.

I attended my first ASTRO meeting in 2012 as a medical student. At that time, I was advised to be on my best behavior, as this is a small field where everyone knows everyone and thus word gets around. As a resident I recall the deep disappointment amongst my attendings when our annual ACGME survey came back and painted the program in a negative light. Little changed, but yet subsequent surveys would make you think we were a model institution. I have attended meetings where, in an open forum, job market concerns from residents and young attendings are dismissed as the misgivings of entitled millennials. I’d imagine that my experience is not unique amongst my peers.

Cancel culture cuts both ways and civil discourse cannot exist when the culture of our field is to punish those that question the establishment. Like it or not this culture is pervasive in radiation oncology. It is perpetuated by your peers and it begins early on. If you are ignorant of this reality, consider recently when one of the less anonymous members of SDN was censored by his employer for opinions and comments anathema to the party line. Even by writing a relatively benign letter such as this, the thought has crossed my mind that it may reflect negatively on me by my employer or my training program were my identity made public.

I in no way condone any of the attacks on you as a person and I have often defended attacks on those I know. SDN is certainly an echo chamber but it is one that exists for a reason. Those that are most concerned with the future of our field, young radiation oncologists, do not have a platform to voice their concerns without fear of repercussions. I would venture to guess it is much more difficult for an unknown junior community practitioner to publish their opinion in PRO than it is the chairman of an academic department.

 

[elementaryschooleconomics]

I just came across this via the most recent QuadShot and, if a misanthrope such as myself had any sway with PRO, I'd have the following to say in response.

Dear Marcus,

As a junior attending I am far closer to my residency than you, so perhaps things have changed in the decades since your training. However, as a young radiation oncologist this has been my experience over the last 10 years.

I attended my first ASTRO meeting in 2012 as a medical student. At that time, I was advised to be on my best behavior, as this is a small field where everyone knows everyone and thus word gets around. As a resident I recall the deep disappointment amongst my attendings when our annual ACGME survey came back and painted the program in a negative light. Little changed, but yet subsequent surveys would make you think we were a model institution. I have attended meetings where, in an open forum, job market concerns from residents and young attendings are dismissed as the misgivings of entitled millennials. I’d imagine that my experience is not unique amongst my peers.

Cancel culture cuts both ways and civil discourse cannot exist when the culture of our field is to punish those that question the establishment. Like it or not this culture is pervasive in radiation oncology. It is perpetuated by your peers and it begins early on. If you are ignorant of this reality, consider recently when one of the less anonymous members of SDN was censored by his employer for opinions and comments anathema to the party line. Even by writing a relatively benign letter such as this, the thought has crossed my mind that it may reflect negatively on me by my employer or my training program were my identity made public.

I in no way condone any of the attacks on you as a person and I have often defended attacks on those I know. SDN is certainly an echo chamber but it is one that exists for a reason. Those that are most concerned with the future of our field, young radiation oncologists, do not have a platform to voice their concerns without fear of repercussions. I would venture to guess it is much more difficult for an unknown junior community practitioner to publish their opinion in PRO than it is the chairman of an academic department.

Good catch, didn't look at Quadshot today yet:

 

[medgator]

Good catch, didn't look at Quadshot today yet:

View attachment 333130

 

[RSAOaky]

Mad respect for this man.

 

[GeneralVeers]

Very sad. I spent a lot of time on rotation with Marcus Randall in medical school. He's a genuine guy and dedicated to his specialty.

 

[radOresident]

Very sad. I spent a lot of time on rotation with Marcus Randall in medical school. He's a genuine guy and dedicated to his specialty.

Not genuine or dedicated enough to even acknowledge the serious problems facing our specialty, let alone push for reform or change. Can't have any of those UK attendings going without resident coverage, now can we!?

 

[TheWallnerus]

Very sad. I spent a lot of time on rotation with Marcus Randall in medical school. He's a genuine guy and dedicated to his specialty.

Not genuine or dedicated enough to even acknowledge the serious problems facing our specialty, let alone push for reform or change. Can't have any of those UK attendings going without resident coverage, now can we!?

You can be both genuine. And very naïve and stupid. That's part of (not all of) rad onc's problem nowadays. It won't be the best analogy I've come up with, but Randall and many others are in that pre-"What have I done" Colonel Nicholson phase. They'll come around. Eventually.

 

[thecarbonionangle]

The field is paying a steep price for its history (“leaders” matching in uncompetitive environments) plus the too many on spectrum personalities we have. These people can be nice yet totally clueless and a huge problem when you need to LEAD and make dramatic 360 degree turns/changes. Dead weight is dead weight even if you put lipstick on it.

 

[medgator]

You can be both genuine. And very naïve and stupid. That's part of (not all of) rad onc's problem nowadays. It won't be the best analogy I've come up with, but Randall and many others are in that pre-"What have I done" Colonel Nicholson phase. They'll come around. Eventually.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

 

[elementaryschooleconomics]

RadOnc's growth and hyper-competitiveness was by accident, not design.

The current "leaders" Matched when the field was struggling with oversupply in the mid-to-late 90s and RadOnc wasn't a desirable specialty.

IMRT arrived, American medicine reimburses more for procedures, and revenue (both personal and institutional) skyrocketed.

In a small specialty, this almost immediately caused an environment where programs could expand, attract top students, and make bank.

All the while, these "nice" and "genuine" and "well-meaning" leaders clapped themselves on the back, thinking they were doing the Lord's work: look at how smart and altruistic they were! Randall could build orphanages in Africa for all I care, he's currently sitting on the wrong side of the fence for the specialty he has a leadership role in.

It's poetic, in a way, that the field has returned to how it once was.

 

[thecarbonionangle]

How do you make a reference to S1 true detective and not make a connection to the pagan god devil worshiping misanthrope sdn cult masks?

 

[TheWallnerus]

Talks at next year's ASTRO:
"I DARED & I REPLIED" by RadOncMegatron
"A LONG VIEW OF RAD ONC FROM THE SHORT VIEW OF A RECENT GRAD" by ElementarySchoolEconomics
"YOU DOWN WITH A.P.P.? YEAH YOU KNOW ME" by Ken Olivier

 

[DebtRising]

Cancel culture is not a chair who has power over others and programs, and ability to get published at will for “editorials” being challenged by young physicians. Cancel culture is ignoring all the anecdotes and objective pieces of info we post then trying to manipulate the situation by trodding on us more by construing us as the aggressor. I sincerely promise I would rather work hard than worry if I will have a job in 10 years. Promise.

It goes hand in hand with the intellectually dishonest handling of this whole thing. Literally a single employment projection allowed programs to expand like crazy, but multiple projections, analysis of indications and fractions per diagnosis both decreasing, a bundled mandatory cut payment model, and changes in CMS supervision changes is insufficient data to justify residency contraction.

The vitriol I have (and am sorry I did) and others have at times posted here is because we are scared of our future, have no voice, and no advocate. Young physician input and fears in this field are absolutely canceled.

 

[kimplera]

I just came across this via the most recent QuadShot and, if a misanthrope such as myself had any sway with PRO, I'd have the following to say in response.

Dear Marcus,

As a junior attending I am far closer to my residency than you, so perhaps things have changed in the decades since your training. However, as a young radiation oncologist this has been my experience over the last 10 years.

I attended my first ASTRO meeting in 2012 as a medical student. At that time, I was advised to be on my best behavior, as this is a small field where everyone knows everyone and thus word gets around. As a resident I recall the deep disappointment amongst my attendings when our annual ACGME survey came back and painted the program in a negative light. Little changed, but yet subsequent surveys would make you think we were a model institution. I have attended meetings where, in an open forum, job market concerns from residents and young attendings are dismissed as the misgivings of entitled millennials. I’d imagine that my experience is not unique amongst my peers.

Cancel culture cuts both ways and civil discourse cannot exist when the culture of our field is to punish those that question the establishment. Like it or not this culture is pervasive in radiation oncology. It is perpetuated by your peers and it begins early on. If you are ignorant of this reality, consider recently when one of the less anonymous members of SDN was censored by his employer for opinions and comments anathema to the party line. Even by writing a relatively benign letter such as this, the thought has crossed my mind that it may reflect negatively on me by my employer or my training program were my identity made public.

I in no way condone any of the attacks on you as a person and I have often defended attacks on those I know. SDN is certainly an echo chamber but it is one that exists for a reason. Those that are most concerned with the future of our field, young radiation oncologists, do not have a platform to voice their concerns without fear of repercussions. I would venture to guess it is much more difficult for an unknown junior community practitioner to publish their opinion in PRO than it is the chairman of an academic department.

you should submit to PRO. Could even ask the editor if you could publish anonymously which is rare, but occasionally done.

 

[RTOGsaveRadonc]

I don’t even know what to say. This victim/persecution complex from these chairs is nauseating

 

[RadOncDoc21]

They are so used to everybody kissing their arse.

 

[radoncftw]

JAMA Editor Placed on Leave After Deputy’s Comments on Racism (Published 2021)

After a staff member dismissed racism as a problem in medicine on a podcast, a petition signed by thousands demanded a review of editorial processes at the journal.

www.nytimes.com