Military Radiation Oncology

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

thecarbonionangle

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
3,238
Reaction score
6,504
Can anybody here give any information on this? I'm already in rad onc residency as a civilian but would like to find out what this is like and about the places I could practice? Do they get deployed?

Thanks in advance.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Which service? Why are you thinking of joining? As you know being a resident in the specialty rad onc is a pretty small field and in the military this is doubly true. I think the navy doesn't even send someone to rad onc every year and they've floated the idea of getting rid of it in the past. I think your best bet might be trying to contact the residency at walter reed to ask because I'm not even sure if any rad onc doctors post on this forum.
 
I'd be open to any of the branches (though Navy probably appeals to me the most). I would probably join after completion of residency as part of the medical corps. Back in high school I thought about applying to the military academies but decided against it. I've just been thinking about it and wanted to know what my options are. The most important thing for me would be being able to practice my field.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I'd be open to any of the branches (though Navy probably appeals to me the most). I would probably join after completion of residency as part of the medical corps. Back in high school I thought about applying to the military academies but decided against it. I've just been thinking about it and wanted to know what my options are. The most important thing for me would be being able to practice my field.

The bolded is a priority that military medicine might not share. It's hard for me to envision a huge need to irradiate people downrange, so it's probably a good idea to research what radiation oncologists do if/when deployed, explore how likely that is to happen for the current optempo, and consider how you'd handle potentially seeing sick call for 9 months. Also, I suggest you avoid the Army, so that you can sidestep all the craziness that are brigade surgeon tours.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
probably not a whole lot of rad onc going on in active duty military, but the pararescue medical director in the AF National Guard unit in NY is/was NYU Rad Onc faculty. You may be able to find a nice gig with a reserve/guard unit if that's your calling.
 
Walter Reed has a large Rad Onc department as part of the cancer center as well as the only .mil residency program which is combined with NIH (military and civilian residents work at both sites). They take 1-2 residents per year both Army and Navy. They have a pretty good reputation.

If you are interested in military oncology, WR is basically your option. Multiple large clinical trials are running at any time so patients tend to come here from all over.
 
Army Slots:
Tripler (Honolulu HI)
Walter Reed (D.C.)
DeWitt (D.C.)
SAMMC (San Antonio TX)
Madigan (Tacoma WA)

Navy Slots:
Portsmouth VA
Walter Reed
San Diego

Air Force Slots:
Wright-Patterson (Dayton OH)
David Grant (Sacramento CA Area)
SAMMC
Walter Reed

SAMMC and Walter Reed are the 2 largest hospitals with the most robust rad onc departments. Both hospitals have the full range of surgical oncologic subspecialties with robust medical oncology services (peds and adult) and see virtually every type of malignancy. As mentioned, Walter Reed has the Rad Onc residency and the ability to collaborate at the NIH while SAMMC has more of a very busy private practice feel. Both SAMMC and Walter Reed have multiple protocols ongoing within their departments. Tripler, San Diego, and Portsmouth are large hospitals with plenty of volume but will lack some of the rarer malignancies. David Grant and Wright Patterson are low volume centers and treat primarily bread and butter carcinomas and hematologic malignancies with a smattering of sarcomas.

In all 3 services, if you are accepted as a board certified rad-onc after residency, you'll be practicing your specialty for the early part of your career. You will be a junior officer and will function as one of the workhorses of your department (though the volume and complexity will vary as mentioned above). If you stay in long enough to become a senior officer, you will be expected to perform more administrative duties to progress in your career. These administrative duties can involve a deployment (where you will be serving as a commander and will not be functioning as a rad-onc), or serving as a commanding officer at a medical facility that may or may not have an accelerator.

Special mention was made of the Brigade Surgeon Position that is unique to the Army above. These are mostly administrative primary care positions where doctors are attached to Army Combat Brigades. These positions are generally filled by PCPs, but due to a shortage of PCPs in the Army, certain medical specialties that were considered to have excess personnel were required to provide physicians for these spots. I know of one rad-onc who was sent to one of these spots at a base that lacked an accelerator. I'm not sure if he was able to moonlight at local civilian hospitals while in this (2 year) Brigade Surgeon position. It's unlikely (but possible) that you could be tasked to one of these positions if you did a single 4 year hitch.

Talk to recruiters if you're really serious and feel them out about where you would be stationed. Make sure your recruiter puts you in touch with the specialty leader/consultant for rad-onc in that particular service (the specialty leader/consultant is a radiation oncologist who [for all intents and purposes] decides who will staff each position in that particular service). The specialty leader/consultant will be able to give you the straight dope about upcoming staffing plans. Try and get things in writing regarding duty assignments if you can (you likely won't get cut and dry orders before you sign up, but an e-mail is ok as people generally aren't going to try a blatant bait and switch).

If your commitment is 4 years or less, you'll likely get to stay at a single duty station for your entire commitment. If that duty station is Walter Reed, SAMMC, San Diego, Madigan, or Portsmouth (I don't know anybody in Tripler's oncology related specialties), I think you'll have a good experience working with (generally) good people and getting valuable experience as a new attending. From that vantage point you can get a better vista of military medicine as a whole and whether you'd want to stay more than 4 years.
 
Last edited:
Hi all, so how do I apply to these radonc military residency slots? Do they accept ERAS application?
 
Hi all, so how do I apply to these radonc military residency slots? Do they accept ERAS application?
The listed locations above are for board certified radiation oncology positions, not residency slots. Most (nearly all) military residencies require an existing military obligation as a commissioned officer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
As an aside, I've never met an unhappy radiation oncologist
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Army Slots:

As mentioned, Walter Reed has the Rad Onc residency and the ability to collaborate at the NIH

If I were interested in radiation oncology and the residency through the National Capital Consortium as an Army HPSP medical student, then I would first need to complete an internship/transitional year then apply for this residency, correct? Where do Army HPSP students usually complete these intern/transitional years and under which service? The website for this program (linked below) states, "preference will be shown to those candidates who have completed all or part of training in another oncologic specialty," so would an intern/transitional year suffice?

Radiation Oncology
 
Top