Is this competitive?

[canmedstudent]

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Is radiation oncology a competitve field to try to match into?
How is workload in general and during residency? any info much appreciated!

 

[Gfunk6]

Check out the Radiation Oncology forum for detailed information.

 

[Amy]

Rad Onc is definately one of the TOUGHEST specialties to match into.

 

[KluverBucy]

Is radiation oncology a competitve field to try to match into?
How is workload in general and during residency? any info much appreciated!

this is like asking if family medicine is easy to get into. 😉 but def hit up that rad onc forum for specifics on residency life. btw, i had a friend who did very well on boards and great student (although don't have specific stats right now) and essentially had to wait a year to get into rad onc cuz it was so competitive. he did a year of rad onc research and reapplied.
i'd rank it up their in the top 2 specialites in terms of competitiveness along with integrated plastics.

 

[CANES2006]

I think there was only like 17 spots to match into this year...competitive? Uh, yeah! 😱

 

[Gfunk6]

I think there was only like 17 spots to match into this year...competitive? Uh, yeah! 😱

Actually, there were 130 spots. 17 were PGY-1 to PGY-5 and 113 were PGY-2 to PGY-5.

 

[shemozart]

We had a few people in my class match into it. Two of them were unquestionably among the brightest people in my med school class and went to their top choices. However, another was definitely bottom third of the class and didn't do great on Step 1 - and didn't exactly perform tops on her third year rotations either - she only got two interviews and still managed to match in rad onc! Where there's a will, there's a way. Props to her for doing it, but everyone was SHOCKED on match day.

 

[Faraaz23]

She probably had bruised knees...

 

[mmb]

that's all i've got to say...

faraaz23, you're one classy man.

 

[KluverBucy]

She probably had bruised knees...

nice work.

 

[Reaganite]

We had a few people in my class match into it. Two of them were unquestionably among the brightest people in my med school class and went to their top choices. However, another was definitely bottom third of the class and didn't do great on Step 1 - and didn't exactly perform tops on her third year rotations either - she only got two interviews and still managed to match in rad onc! Where there's a will, there's a way. Props to her for doing it, but everyone was SHOCKED on match day.

It is possible for "lesser" qualified students to match in rad onc. This field is not as numbers-based as some other fields. That is what is so scary about applying to it. Some positions are all about who you know. You do well at you home institution on an elective rotation, and you can get the spot with subpar scores. I recently spoke with the program director at my school. He was not impressed at all with my >260 usmle, good 3rd year grades, etc. He told me that board scores really don't matter at all for his position. Instead, he said that that it was much more important for me to do an elective rotation to show the attendings that I am legitimately interested in the field and that I am someone that they can work with with for 4 years.

 

[medgator]

It is possible for "lesser" qualified students to match in rad onc. This field is not as numbers-based as some other fields. That is what is so scary about applying to it. Some positions are all about who you know. You do well at you home institution on an elective rotation, and you can get the spot with subpar scores. I recently spoke with the program director at my school. He was not impressed at all with my >260 usmle, good 3rd year grades, etc. He told me that board scores really don't matter at all for his position. Instead, he said that that it was much more important for me to do an elective rotation to show the attendings that I am legitimately interested in the field and that I am someone that they can work with with for 4 years.

Agreed. Your dedication to the field as evidenced by research and away rotations are much more important to PDs and chairman.