How could residents memorize all this ?

[brain storm]

Hi all
Thank you very much for this very helpful site .

When I read handbook of radiation oncology , I amazed how the junior residents (as me ) could memorize and distinguish all this the stages of hundereds of cancers and their treatment ?
In the practical life what happend really ? do you reveiw the literature in every case or just memorize and prescribe ?


Thank very much .
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[Reaganite]

Hi all
Thank you very much for this very helpful site .

I'm interested in radiation onclogy but when I read handbook of radiation oncology ,

I amazed how the residents could memorize and distinguish all this the stages of hundereds of cancers and their treatment ?
In the practical life what happend really ? do you reveiw the literature in every case or just memorize and prescribe ?


Thank very much .
​

We really are just that smart. The majority of us are also exceptionally good looking and dating extremely hot women and/or men. Such is the life of a radonc.

P.S. It's not nearly as bad as it looks. Most of us remember the big phase 3 studies. We memorize the staging for boards, and then forget a few days later. That's why we all have that handbook by our desks. Also, in private practice at least, we mostly treat breast and prostate anyway.

 

[medgator]

We really are just that smart. The majority of us are also exceptionally good looking and dating extremely hot women and/or men. Such is the life of a radonc.

 

[hot sauce]

Also, remember rad onc is a four year residency. That is the same length as medical school. What if someone showed you everything you would learn in those four years.

 

[medgator]

Also, in private practice at least, we mostly treat breast and prostate anyway.

And head and neck CA, Lung CA, skin CA, GYN (mostly endometrial), GI (rectal, anal, pancreas, esophagus/GE jxn), CNS, and plenty of weird-omas.... Right now, I have all of those on treatment and Breast and prostate CA

 

[deleted4401]

Ha, I have more rectal cases and head and neck cases on treatment than prostate. My partner does most of them.

 

[brain storm]

We memorize the staging for boards,

Thank you for reply ,
did you mean , one should not waste time for this until boards is soon ?

 

[brain storm]

Also, remember rad onc is a four year residency. That is the same length as medical school. What if someone showed you everything you would learn in those four years.

Thank you for reply .

you are right , but if the residency : 6 months internal medicine , 6 months medical oncology , 2 months nuclear medicine , 2 months diagnostic radiology , 1 month surgical oncology , 1 month pathology and 2.5 years radiation oncology !

only 2.5 years radiation oncology is this will make the problem more complicated ?

 

[brain storm]

And head and neck CA, Lung CA, skin CA, GYN (mostly endometrial), GI (rectal, anal, pancreas, esophagus/GE jxn), CNS, and plenty of weird-omas.... Right now, I have all of those on treatment and Breast and prostate CA

Thank you for reply

By the repetition of cases , the radiation oncologist could memorize the stages for all this cancer but for the junior resident (as me ) how could memorize all this ?

 

[brain storm]

Ha, I have more rectal cases and head and neck cases on treatment than prostate. My partner does most of them.

Thank you for reply , but could you kindly tell me how to memorize ?

 

[medgator]

Thank you for reply

By the repetition of cases , the radiation oncologist could memorize the stages for all this cancer but for the junior resident (as me ) how could memorize all this ?

Practice makes perfect. Read up on the cases you'll be seeing the night before. Try and nail the basics first as a junior resident.... staging, epidemiology and the overall management strategy (i.e. chemo - adjuvant/neoadjuvant/concurrent, surgery if there's a role, and obviously RT). As you see more and more volume, some of the staging will begin to sink in

 

[brain storm]

Practice makes perfect. Read up on the cases you'll be seeing the night before. Try and nail the basics first as a junior resident.... staging, epidemiology and the overall management strategy (i.e. chemo - adjuvant/neoadjuvant/concurrent, surgery if there's a role, and obviously RT). As you see more and more volume, some of the staging will begin to sink in

Thank you very much for your advice

 

[Reaganite]

And head and neck CA, Lung CA, skin CA, GYN (mostly endometrial), GI (rectal, anal, pancreas, esophagus/GE jxn), CNS, and plenty of weird-omas.... Right now, I have all of those on treatment and Breast and prostate CA

Haha, my part of the world is apparently quite sheltered, although I am in true solo private practice and have only done locums for guys in a similar situation so maybe we haven't been as proactive about recruiting those other cases.

 

[hot sauce]

Thank you for reply .

you are right , but if the residency : 6 months internal medicine , 6 months medical oncology , 2 months nuclear medicine , 2 months diagnostic radiology , 1 month surgical oncology , 1 month pathology and 2.5 years radiation oncology !

only 2.5 years radiation oncology is this will make the problem more complicated ?

That doesn't look like my residency at all. 4 years I was just counting the rad onc (some may have up to 12 months of research but there is still conference and research is radiation oncology related). Sure I did some of that in TY (5 years if you count the TY) but we aren't doing 6 months of med onc or those other rotations.

 

[medgator]

Haha, my part of the world is apparently quite sheltered, although I am in true solo private practice and have only done locums for guys in a similar situation so maybe we haven't been as proactive about recruiting those other cases.

I think it depends on a number of factors... demographics, competition/referral patterns, etc.

 

[brain storm]

That doesn't look like my residency at all. 4 years I was just counting the rad onc (some may have up to 12 months of research but there is still conference and research is radiation oncology related). Sure I did some of that in TY (5 years if you count the TY) but we aren't doing 6 months of med onc or those other rotations.

I think our residency program is one of the worst , we waste 1.5 year in rotations and only 2.5 years for rad onc .

 

[medgator]

I think our residency program is one of the worst , we waste 1.5 year in rotations and only 2.5 years for rad onc .

Seems odd. I think most people have a year (at most) for electives/research unless they are Holman.

 

[napoleondynamite]

Thank you for reply .

you are right , but if the residency : 6 months internal medicine , 6 months medical oncology , 2 months nuclear medicine , 2 months diagnostic radiology , 1 month surgical oncology , 1 month pathology and 2.5 years radiation oncology !

only 2.5 years radiation oncology is this will make the problem more complicated ?

Six months of IM during residency? I have never heard of such a program. Would be a total waste of time to do any IM during a radonc residency, much less six friggin' months! 2.5 years of radonc also sounds odd - I thought the ACGME requirement was at least 36 clinical months?

 

[brain storm]

Six months of IM during residency? I have never heard of such a program. Would be a total waste of time to do any IM during a radonc residency, much less six friggin' months! 2.5 years of radonc also sounds odd - I thought the ACGME requirement was at least 36 clinical months?

this odd residency is not in USA , it is in the middle east .