Future demand?

[Crompy]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I'm a 3rd year student trying to figure out if rad onc is right for me. I'm encouraged by what I've learned so far, but a few practical questions I want to try and clear up:

I realize this might not be the least biased place to pose the question, and I intend on asking a few practicing radiation oncologists in my city but I figure extra opinions can't hurt. My question is quite simply, where do you see the demand for radiation oncologists trending in the future? I'm sure many folks think aging population-->more cancer--> more demand. Is it really as simple as that?

What is the demand like right now? For example if I were currently finishing my residency are there many opportunities in many geographical areas? Do you mostly need to be near larger cities because of the cost of the expensive machines involved in treating patients?

I feel there must be more factors to consider. I fully understand that no one can predict with absolute certainty, just looking for thoughts here. I appreciate any responses.

 

[Thaiger75]

I'm a 3rd year student trying to figure out if rad onc is right for me. I'm encouraged by what I've learned so far, but a few practical questions I want to try and clear up:

I realize this might not be the least biased place to pose the question, and I intend on asking a few practicing radiation oncologists in my city but I figure extra opinions can't hurt. My question is quite simply, where do you see the demand for radiation oncologists trending in the future? I'm sure many folks think aging population-->more cancer--> more demand. Is it really as simple as that?

What is the demand like right now? For example if I were currently finishing my residency are there many opportunities in many geographical areas? Do you mostly need to be near larger cities because of the cost of the expensive machines involved in treating patients?

I feel there must be more factors to consider. I fully understand that no one can predict with absolute certainty, just looking for thoughts here. I appreciate any responses.

We're not going anywhere anytime soon...at LEAST for another 50 years...unless science can find the cancer magic bullet or find out another way to treat microscopic disease. In fact, if improved chemotherapy, biologics, and other systemic treatments, the importance of radiation may increase (patterns of failure are shifted to local failures, which we deal with).

The job market fluctuates year by year, so hard to predict what it will be like when a person finishes. And it really depends on which geographic locations you're talking about. Having said that, there are usually always job openings in places like Montana, etc (at least I see alot of ads for these places).

 

[Brim]

I'm optimistic that the utilization of radiation will increase as:
1) we have an aging population, a population with an increased life expectancy, and with more cancers detected in earlier stages (such as through screening programs) there are more opportunities for definitive treatments (where we come in to play) rather than treatment for advanced disease (which is more the exclusive role of medical oncologists).
2) due to more effective chemotherapy and other systemic therapies (immunotherapy, hormonal therapy, biologics and the like) patients are living longer with disease and thus there are more opportunities for the radiation oncologist to come in and treat brain mets, bone mets, etc.
3) as radiation oncology becomes more focused (IMRT) and image-guided, the perception of our field shifts from one that was somewhat primitive and likely to cause side effects to one where side effects can be spared and where radiation may be considered the treatment of choice for a lot of cancers. For example, urologists becoming more likely to recommend IMRT treatment for prostate cancer.
4) Radiation is becoming increasingly integrated into combined modality treatments

Also, I'm quite pessimistic that there will be a chemotherapy / targeted-therapy cure for cancer that will render us useless. Chemotherapy is getting better, but we're still not seeing cure of disease via systemic agents. Maybe there will be cures for some diseases, but cancer is so heterogeneous that it's unlikely that there will be a magic bullet to cure all cancers. Cancer is cancers, not cancer (Cancri if you're nasty.)

 

[stephew]

please see prior threads on this subject.