Understanding Rad Onc Research

[Joe Waitlist]

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I'm a second year who fell head over heels for Rad Onc last fall. I'm jumping into research and everyone keeps talking about 'ASTRO' and getting stuff done in time for 'ASTRO'. Apparently it's the 'big meeting' each year, and I think it's a journal that you have to submit to by sometime early in the year. Is this the only significant journal people are looking to get published in and/or only significant meeting people want to present at, etc.? Please help me understand the significance of all uses of 'ASTRO'.
Also, if you do research during the middle of the year, such as on an away rotation, where are people submitting? I would imagine you would want to publish quickly so it can be on your residency application.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone for being so helpful, this site has been super useful.

 

[Gfunk6]

As you've already surmised ASTRO can mean different things.

1. ASTRO = American Society for Radiation Oncology; the largest organization of its kind in the world for the field; in addition to Radiation Oncologists and residents there are many other important members such as radiation physicists, dosimetrists, radiation therapists, oncology nurses, administrators, etc.

2. ASTRO = the annual meeting of ASTRO in Oct or Nov; this year it is in Oct and will be held in Miami; one of the major thrusts of the meeting is advancement of the field through research of all kinds so people can submit research abstracts for consideration; most accepted abstracts will be accepted as poster presentations but the higher impact ones may be chosen as oral presentations

The official research journal of ASTRO is the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics (aka. IJROBP or the Red Journal). Sometimes medical students with good research projects publish in this journal. This is definitely NOT the norm and it would be an exceptional achievement.

There are many other journals besides this where one can publish. IJROBP is a middle tier publication.