Oncology programs?

[brienene]

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I am a premed interested in oncology and not sure whether I need to choose a med school with an oncology program. Hopefully I don't sound too uninformed, but I'm new to the med school application process and am just beginning to research programs.

Can anyone advise? At what point in the process does this really become a focus? Is there a general med school curriculum that any school will cover and then the residency or specialization is where you really hone in on the area of special interest (e.g., gastrointestinal oncology)?

Thanks in advance for any and all input!

 

[velo]

No matter what you chose to go in to your 4-year MD training is essentially the same. Which is good, because many people who come into med school with a strong idea of what they want to do end up going into something completely different when it comes time to apply for residencies. At most schools you have a little bit of latitude in your 3/4 year clinical training, so you can make sure you do rotations in areas that interest you, but as far as getting specialized training in, say, oncology, that's something that happens after you get accepted to an oncology residency program. GI onc would probably be a fellowship program post-residency, but don't quote me on that. Any medical school will be associated with a hospital that has a department of oncology, and you can essentially go anywhere and then match to onc. However, if you're really interested in it, you might want to go to a school associated with a hospital that has a well funded cancer center or something of that nature...anything where a lot of research is being done. You could get involved with a lab there and look golden for residency applications having already published in the field. good luck!

 

[Wednesday]

Hi,

Oncology is a medicine subspecialty. That means that you do a three year residency in internal medicine and then a three year fellowship in medical oncology (there's also radiation oncology which is completely different, but it sounds like you're talking about med onc). Basically it doesn't matter where you go to med school. As in all situations, pick the med school where you'll be the happiest because then you'll do the best. You won't be applying for fellowship until you are already in residency. You don't need to worry about fellowship placement until you are picking a residency program (and there are tons of internal medicine spots once you get there). Definitely not something to worry about now. Good luck with the process!

 

[velo]

Oh that's right, good call. I can never remember which specialties are a fellowship after IM and which ones have 'seceded from the union' to form their own residency program right out of school. Anyway, yeah you can get there from any med school...but I still say try to do some research as a med student, and its easier to find a mentor at some schools than others.

 

[fun8stuff]

Hi,

Oncology is a medicine subspecialty. That means that you do a three year residency in internal medicine and then a three year fellowship in medical oncology (there's also radiation oncology which is completely different, but it sounds like you're talking about med onc). Basically it doesn't matter where you go to med school. As in all situations, pick the med school where you'll be the happiest because then you'll do the best. You won't be applying for fellowship until you are already in residency. You don't need to worry about fellowship placement until you are picking a residency program (and there are tons of internal medicine spots once you get there). Definitely not something to worry about now. Good luck with the process!

Also, a lot of people who are interested in oncology will do a hematology/oncology combined fellowship. But as they said, you really don't have to worry about this now.