Oncologist life

[tompi90]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am interested in cancer treatment. I am considering oncology (but since i'm still in undergrad I have a long road ahead so anything could change).

I was just wondering how the life of an oncologist was. Do they work crazy hours? Do they have time to have a social life (I'm not talking about residency since I know that is tough for any specialty)?

thanks

 

[BlueElmo]

I am interested in cancer treatment. I am considering oncology (but since i'm still in undergrad I have a long road ahead so anything could change).

I was just wondering how the life of an oncologist was. Do they work crazy hours? Do they have time to have a social life (I'm not talking about residency since I know that is tough for any specialty)?

thanks

You can check out the specialty forums. But if I were you, I would just focus on school and grades and not worry about this.

 

[ziggyd0c]

i think i can comment here because my dad is a radiation oncologist. i was born just before my dad started residency, so obviously i don't remember that period very well. i know that he was really busy, and actually my mom said that he kept falling asleep the day i was born because he had been at the hospital for the past like 36 hours

but... growing up, i NEVER felt like my dad wasn't around. i remember having dinner as a family pretty much every night. he traveled a lot, but that's because he's an academic and gives a lot of talks. still, a lot of his trips were short (like 1 day), and if they were long and in a cool place the rest of us would go with him 🙂

pm me if you have questions

 

[Mattabet]

👍 Agree with above, perusing the specialty forums might shed some light for you.

Remember that oncology comes in several flavors: medical, surgical, and radiation. The specialties are different in terms of compensation and lifestyle (though I've heard good things about Rad Onc, and it's on my short list 🙂).