Would you apply today?

[CurbYourExpectations]

---

Members don't see this ad.

As there has been an increasing number of students asking about the field, thought it would be interesting to see the general consensus of radiation oncology physicians that use this forum.
In spite of the many concerns that many of us have about the field, would you apply again?
If not feel free to list what choice you would have made. Interested to see the numbers, very scientific.

 

[Chartreuse Wombat]

As there has been an increasing number of students asking about the field, thought it would be interesting to see the general consensus of radiation oncology physicians that use this forum.
In spite of the many concerns that many of us have about the field, would you apply again?
If not feel free to list what choice you would have made. Interested to see the numbers, very scientific.

Full disclosure. At risk of doxxing. Applied before the "good programs" were in the match. High school friend with Ewing's and I knew I wanted oncology. Retiring in 4 months after 35 years in the field (at the age of 61). One of my (four) children in medicine and I told them you can do whatever you want as long as it is not RadOnc. They chose Anesthesia which looks to be OK for a decade or so.
I am a congenital pessimist. I have been fortunate and lived through the 2D, 3D, IMRT trajectory (never had a piece of the technical mind you) and lived frugally. Managed to "time the market" in late 1990's and again in 2008. Leaving the discipline with gratitude but I expect that the next two decades will be difficult for RadOnc and medicine in general. As a friend remarked last weekend; corporate medicine is bad business and bad medicine. Mediocrity is the future.
-Winnie the Pooh

 

[medgator]

Nope. Very happy to have my job, salary and setup. Took a slight hit on location but some might even be ok with that.

As many others have said in this forum already, we all have great jobs but said jobs aren't available because we are currently in them (and who knows when we are leaving)!

In 2025, id do med onc (find a larger priva-demic place where I'd only cover heme now and then), rads, ENT or GU.

Still think rad onc is the best job in the world it's just not something I'd go into now knowing what I know with the oversupply issues, tougher job market with less PP/job autonomy and less mobility and geographic/practice type choice than a decade or two ago

 

[NotMattSpraker]

Full disclosure. At risk of doxxing. Applied before the "good programs" were in the match. High school friend with Ewing's and I knew I wanted oncology. Retiring in 4 months after 35 years in the field (at the age of 61). One of my (four) children in medicine and I told them you can do whatever you want as long as it is not RadOnc. They chose Anesthesia which looks to be OK for a decade or so.
I am a congenital pessimist. I have been fortunate and lived through the 2D, 3D, IMRT trajectory (never had a piece of the technical mind you) and lived frugally. Managed to "time the market" in late 1990's and again in 2008. Leaving the discipline with gratitude but I expect that the next two decades will be difficult for RadOnc and medicine in general. As a friend remarked last weekend; corporate medicine is bad business and bad medicine. Mediocrity is the future.
-Winnie the Pooh

Congrats on your retirement! Your friend's remark rings true to me, how sad.

 

[Lamount]

I'd still go into rad onc, as it is genuinely hard to imagine having as much fun in any other specialty (...diagnostic rads is a distant second, as exercising my social skills with patient interaction is the only thing that keeps me from going full Howard Hughes). I'd just be going into rad onc having lower expectations of income potential and job stability than I had when i applied.

 

[Gfunk6]

I would not go into Rad Onc now. Would do Med Onc instead - I think my point of view has been well explained by others on this and other threads.

 

[metallica81788]

I love RadOnc
However, if applying now, I would do Radiology. The things that sometimes wear on me in RadOnc are not present in Radiology (mostly). Obviously different problems would present themselves.

Rad v RadOnc
Pros: Job flexibility with good pay, options for increasing/decreasing work or income as needed, mobility, still heavily imaging/tech based, less (or no) emotionally/mentally draining patient/family/social logistics interactions
Cons: Very busy and stressed during probably every shift, possible nights, possible boredom (but doesn't that happen for everyone)

I would never do Med Onc - that lifestyle and clinic day/structure doesn't appeal to me at all

 

[yesmaster]

I’d do med onc. I want to work hard, build a busy practice, get paid, live in desirable city, fight the academic big house. All those are easier or better in med onc.

 

[yesmaster]

Radiology is great now but clearly diagnostic rads gets replaced by AI in a few years. If it doesn’t happen here it will happen in other countries. If Siemens or GE have the rads on a Blackwell/AWS package and clinically validated, the financial incentive to adopt will be overwhelming.

 

[DrProtonX]

I’d like to offer a different point of view. This question seems to be more toward those who have been in the field for a while, i’m just a resident so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Location: this has always been and still is the biggest downside of this specialty. This issue exists in other small niche (sub)specialties as well, but you add oversupply, longevity of current radoncs, decrease in radiation role, hypofraction etc to it… well let’s just say if you’re limited in where you wanna live in any shape, stay away from rad onc!

Income potential: while the ceiling might not be as high as it used to be due to decreasing pp opportunities, this is still one of the highest paying specialties. New grads gets $350-450k pp and $500-600k hospital employed. That’s probably 85-90th percentile of all specialties and subspecialties. While medicine as a whole has not kept up with inflation, there’s no significant lag in radonc average compensation comparing to other specialties

Residency: if you look at the whole life, residency is a very small portion of it, however it’s significant portion of your “youth 20-40”. Rad onc residency is one of the few residencies that you can have some work-life balance.

Now what’s gonna happen in the next 5,10, 15 years… who knows! Things might get much worse, stay as is, or get better.

 

[medgator]

Radiology is great now but clearly diagnostic rads gets replaced by AI in a few years. If it doesn’t happen here it will happen in other countries. If Siemens or GE have the rads on a Blackwell/AWS package and clinically validated, the financial incentive to adopt will be overwhelming.

Not happening. Someone will take liability and get paid for it

 

[yesmaster]

Labcorp takes liability for blood chemistry errors and the NGS companies take liability for sequencing errors. Oncology - I can’t comment on other areas of medicine - would be so much better with LLM’s generating radiology reports automatically with no delay. There’s also a lot of crappy radiologists out there.

 

[randomname2018]

No.

I am 10 years out of residency. The field's trajectory over that time has been concerning in several ways - socially, scientifically, financially, etc. "Leadership" has not made attempts at course correction. I do not see hope on the horizon now; instead, I see a doubling down on bad ideas.

I would likely be out of medicine entirely.

 

[gmsquid]

I said yes. I really love the work I do. I work in a second tier city (the biggest in the state but not nyc Chicago la Houston big) main campus academic center treating primarily HN. The job I do is a lot of fun and couldn’t imagine myself doing surgery, medicine, med onc, path or rads. Feel like I really make a difference in peoples lives, enjoy the technical work and the research I do. Doesn’t feel as mechanical as something else procedural or technical like anesthesia would be. I guess I could be a programmer or basic scientist but still wouldn’t be as fulfilled. I’ve got a good gig though

 

[gmsquid]

Labcorp takes liability for blood chemistry errors and the NGS companies take liability for sequencing errors. Oncology - I can’t comment on other areas of medicine - would be so much better with LLM’s generating radiology reports automatically with no delay. There’s also a lot of crappy radiologists out there.

Highly different. Labs are easily repeatable. Sequencing is very high fidelity. A missed diagnosis or overcall on imaging can be disastrous and last for months

 

[drowsy12]

Highly different. Labs are easily repeatable. Sequencing is very high fidelity. A missed diagnosis or overcall on imaging can be disastrous and last for months

yeah terrible analogy, agree.

 

[Gfunk6]

No.

I am 10 years out of residency. The field's trajectory over that time has been concerning in several ways - socially, scientifically, financially, etc. "Leadership" has not made attempts at course correction. I do not see hope on the horizon now; instead, I see a doubling down on bad ideas.

I would likely be out of medicine entirely.

I'm 14 years out of residency, but this post really resonates with me. In some ways, I feel like I am fortunate to be in the last generation of Rad Oncs who have it relatively good.

Things that are going away/changing after my generation:

* Technical ownership
* Clinical autonomy (everthing will be pathway dirven + NPs are getting more involved in OTVs and even new consults)
* AI replaces clincial tasks (we are just getting started; right now all OARs are auto-generated - will soon move to target deliniation and then full dosimetric planning)
* The art of medicine will be left behind - this is why the art of the physical exam is dead/dying.

Then again, maybe I'm just an old fogie and the current generation has completely different expectations and desires than I do.

EDIT: One other bullet point I thought about is the out-of-control spiralling of medical costs for every patient who doesn't have a safety net insurance. This includes Medicare secondaries, PPO, HMOs, etc. It is not sustainable.

 

[thesauce]

I'm 14 years out of residency, but this post really resonates with me. In some ways, I feel like I am fortunate to be in the last generation of Rad Oncs who have it relatively good.

Things that are going away/changing after my generation:

* Technical ownership
* Clinical autonomy (everthing will be pathway dirven + NPs are getting more involved in OTVs and even new consults)
* AI replaces clincial tasks (we are just getting started; right now all OARs are auto-generated - will soon move to target deliniation and then full dosimetric planning)
* The art of medicine will be left behind - this is why the art of the physical exam is dead/dying.

Then again, maybe I'm just an old fogie and the current generation has completely different expectations and desires than I do.

EDIT: One other bullet point I thought about is the out-of-control spiralling of medical costs for every patient who doesn't have a safety net insurance. This includes Medicare secondaries, PPO, HMOs, etc. It is not sustainable.

I don't disagree with any of this, but will just say that it could have been written 15 years ago

 

[medgator]

I don't disagree with any of this, but will just say that it could have been written 15 years ago

Way less common now.

I think 15-20 years ago it was hard to find but it was still happening more commonly

 

[thesauce]

I’d do med onc. I want to work hard, build a busy practice, get paid, live in desirable city, fight the academic big house. All those are easier or better in med onc.

I would not do medonc. Cancer drug prices will have to be reigned in at some point and their gravy train will be derailed.

 

[RSAOaky]

I recognize the grass is always greener, but if I could do it again I would do radiology. Mobility, flexibility, shift work, and much easier to transition away from full time practice when the time is right.

 

[iradi8r]

A few thoughts....

At 63, I too am looking at retirement after 35ish years. It has been a great run. From a perspective of medical practice I could not have been happier. Financially it has been fine.

What the future holds for our specialty and medicine in general seems bleak. I worry about who will provide care for me when I get sick. I stay healthy because of it.

If I were to practice medicine I cannot imagine any other specialty.

I recall as a new attending being told I missed the golden age of medicine. I think all those at the end of their career think they had it better.

While considering my options of what to do with my very busy solo freestanding center, I have spoken to a few young doctors. At the risk of offending some, I am shocked at the nature of their expectations. I wish you all luck. It is not a job, but a profession.
Residents seem to want a full salary from day 1. I had a low front end for 3 years to partnership in a professional only practice.
They also want a 3-4 day work week. I am bewildered.

Quality patient care is always going to be successful. Hard work is mandatory. Being available is critical. The rewards are not just monetary. Monetary rewards will always decline moving forward unfortunately. The people going into our field only seem interested in money and lifestyle.

ASTRO has not been effective in maintaining our specialty. I am not renewing my membership.

I am sure many people will disagree but these are my thoughts. I have been reading this board for a couple of years, and have thought about the future of Rad Onc a lot. I have not written much, but I guess this might be useful to some. Even now I am considering not posting this.

 

[Doctorer]

Residents seem to want a full salary from day 1. I had a low front end for 3 years to partnership in a professional only practice.

I am genuinely curious: what do you mean a "full salary" from day 1?

 

[drowsy12]

I am genuinely curious: what do you mean a "full salary" from day 1?

a partner's salary I imagine

 

[iradi8r]

a partner's salary I imagine

Yes.
The concept may seem archaic, but when I was brought into an established practice with no referral base of my own, I saw patients that others had developed the referral base to obtain. If you are in a practice that is not in a closed system, this is critically important. You therefore are paid a less than equivalent salary while you do the hard work of practice building. In my case it was a 3 year period gradually increasing to a full professional partners salary. There was no buy in besides this "low front end". It was very standard back then. If technical was owned it was dealt with separately with a cash buy in, usually financed internally from the technical revenue share of the new partner.

 

[Doctorer]

Yes.
The concept may seem archaic, but when I was brought into an established practice with no referral base of my own, I saw patients that others had developed the referral base to obtain. If you are in a practice that is not in a closed system, this is critically important. You therefore are paid a less than equivalent salary while you do the hard work of practice building. In my case it was a 3 year period gradually increasing to a full professional partners salary. There was no buy in besides this "low front end". It was very standard back then. If technical was owned it was dealt with separately with a cash buy in, usually financed internally from the technical revenue share of the new partner.

I think this is still pretty clear to most. I'm surprised a new graduate would expect a full partner's salary fresh out of residency. Three years to full professional partnership seems quite long: do you really expect it to take that long before they're at a clinical volume that would cover their salary? Even a new graduate? What does a professional-only practice really own beyond an AR account? The goodwill of the hospital? Keep in mind that you're also competing with hospitals for these graduates, and hospitals know that a new grad radonc is likely to generate even a "low" new grad salary quite quickly.

 

[iradi8r]

I think this is still pretty clear to most. I'm surprised a new graduate would expect a full partner's salary fresh out of residency. Three years to full professional partnership seems quite long: do you really expect it to take that long before they're at a clinical volume that would cover their salary? Even a new graduate? What does a professional-only practice really own beyond an AR account? The goodwill of the hospital? Keep in mind that you're also competing with hospitals for these graduates, and hospitals know that a new grad radonc is likely to generate even a "low" new grad salary quite quickly.

I think it would be highly dependent on the situation and the person. Hospital based or freestanding as well. I see my patients from 2 counties. I am not dependent on the goodwill of a hospital. How long would it take you to generate another 250+ referrals a year?

 

[randomname2018]

Residents seem to want a full salary from day 1. I had a low front end for 3 years to partnership in a professional only practice.
They also want a 3-4 day work week. I am bewildered.

I certainly respect your views, and I agree that this is concerning. However, I will say that junior attendings have had 4+ years of witnessing leaders pull up the career advancement ladder behind them. My residents have watched juniors carry 2-4x as many patients as seniors for a fraction of the salary. They've seen seniors not take call or inpatient consults, forcing juniors to cover. They've witnessed ASTRO purposefully hide SCAROP salary data. They've watched senior attendings recycle titles and opportunities amongst themselves. They've seen dozens and dozens of concerning issues daily for 4+ years.

What you're seeing isn't entitlement but rather a defense mechanism.

 

[iradi8r]

I certainly respect your views, and I agree that this is concerning. However, I will say that junior attendings have had 4+ years of witnessing leaders pull up the career advancement ladder behind them. My residents have watched juniors carry 2-4x as many patients as seniors for a fraction of the salary. They've seen seniors not take call or inpatient consults, forcing juniors to cover. They've witnessed ASTRO purposefully hide SCAROP salary data. They've watched senior attendings recycle titles and opportunities amongst themselves. They've seen dozens and dozens of concerning issues daily for 4+ years.

What you're seeing isn't entitlement but rather a defense mechanism.

I am 35 years in and work 55 hours a week. Maybe I should have stayed in academics....

 

[iradi8r]

I would like to add:

I know how to bill. I collect 98 percent plus. It costs me less than 3 percent to do so. It took me a lot of time and energy to learn how to run a thriving practice. Negotiated with insurers. I have built centers. Purchased machines. Obtained loans, putting my house up against the construction and machine costs. I would say most residents know nothing about how to run a business. That is why they are stuck in employed positions.

It's not for everyone. And it's time may be over.

 

[Gfunk6]

I would like to add:

I know how to bill. I collect 98 percent plus. It costs me less than 3 percent to do so. It took me a lot of time and energy to learn how to run a thriving practice. Negotiated with insurers. I have built centers. Purchased machines. Obtained loans, putting my house up against the construction and machine costs. I would say most residents know nothing about how to run a business. That is why they are stuck in employed positions.

It's not for everyone. And it's time may be over.

I get what you are saying and though I'm only 14 years in (waylaid by MD-PhD program), my experience mirrors yours. I am in a multi-specialty practice and there came a time when all of the partners had to personally guarantee a multi-million dollar loan on a new expansion. At the time, I distinctly remember telling my wife, "if this falls through, take the kids, empty the bank accounts and have a nice life in Mexico."

I also started on the very low end of comp and built my way up to technical and real estate partnership. Things are great now, but people can't just walk through the front door and expect to just take what was earned over many years.

It's not for everyone. And it's time may be over.

Between the philosophy of GenZ, the seflishness of (many) boomers, and the short-sighted leadership of ASTRO who is looking to turn us all into worker drones for academic satellites - your statement pretty much says it all.

 

[radoncftw]

I am genuinely curious: what do you mean a "full salary" from day 1?

I think this is a challenge with "private practice" in our current climate.
I have seen multiple practices have difficulty recruiting new grads, including ours, because we offer a partnership track with lowered salary over 2-3 years. The partner take home is slightly higher than MGMA median. We are in a larger metro area so partner salary is better than academics or hospital employed, but the delta has really decreased with increased consolidation and decreased reimbursement.

I went through the process. It took me about 1-1.5 yr to build my practice and begin generating more than I was being paid/bring in for the practice. I did alot of grunt work (seeing inpatients, being very available to referrings to review cases or get people in quickly) and it paid off. I have no shortage of referrals now.

 

[Doctorer]

I think it would be highly dependent on the situation and the person. Hospital based or freestanding as well. I see my patients from 2 counties. I am not dependent on the goodwill of a hospital. How long would it take you to generate another 250+ referrals a year?

I would like to add:

I know how to bill. I collect 98 percent plus. It costs me less than 3 percent to do so. It took me a lot of time and energy to learn how to run a thriving practice. Negotiated with insurers. I have built centers. Purchased machines. Obtained loans, putting my house up against the construction and machine costs. I would say most residents know nothing about how to run a business. That is why they are stuck in employed positions.

It's not for everyone. And it's time may be over.

I guess I'm confused: you've put up guarantees for construction/machine costs, but yet you only collect professional fees? A decent buy-in for technical fees (via money, sweat, etc) is very reasonable. Pro-only is much less appealing, and there's a significant difference in how desirable a job like that is.

 

[Doctorer]

I think this is a challenge with "private practice" in our current climate.
I have seen multiple practices have difficulty recruiting new grads, including ours, because we offer a partnership track with lowered salary over 2-3 years. The partner take home is slightly higher than MGMA median. We are in a larger metro area so partner salary is better than academics or hospital employed, but the delta has really decreased with increased consolidation and decreased reimbursement.

I went through the process. It took me about 1-1.5 yr to build my practice and begin generating more than I was being paid/bring in for the practice. I did alot of grunt work (seeing inpatients, being very available to referrings to review cases or get people in quickly) and it paid off. I have no shortage of referrals now.

Yup, I know a few people in similar shoes, and it makes recruiting a challenge. How big is the differential between "slightly higher than MGMA" partner salary and the salary you're offering to a new grad? How many years will it take them to break even if they choose to take your job versus the hospital employed position down the street, that also happens to be a non-profit, is offering a loan repayment incentive, etc? Are you just banking on someone that's desperate to be local and/or doesn't have any other better options?

 

[iradi8r]

I guess I'm confused: you've put up guarantees for construction/machine costs, but yet you only collect professional fees? A decent buy-in for technical fees (via money, sweat, etc) is very reasonable. Pro-only is much less appealing, and there's a significant difference in how desirable a job like that is.

No, that initial job was decades ago. I have since gone solo and own my facility outright.

 

[yesmaster]

I have seen multiple practices have difficulty recruiting new grads, including ours, because we offer a partnership track with lowered salary over 2-3 years. The partner take home is slightly higher than MGMA median. We are in a larger metro area so partner salary is better than academics or hospital employed, but the delta has really decreased with increased consolidation and decreased reimbursement.

In these situations it would be helpful to be fully transparent at the time of serious offer to new grad with the numbers. There’s nothing to hide, so you have to compensate with transparency and full disclosure and being a good collegial group. Otherwise a new grad would be suspicious they’re being taken advantage of.

 

[A_DeMichele]

for an employed academic system drone, 30h per week on-site is a very reasonable expectation!

 

[Radonky]

I would, because I couldn't imagine doing anything else. Still amazed by the technology behind what we do. I tell medical students to do rad onc if you can't see yourself doing anything else.

 

[medgator]

I would, because I couldn't imagine doing anything else. Still amazed by the technology behind what we do. I tell medical students to do rad onc if you can't see yourself doing anything else.

Fair.

They'd have to be cool potentially doing it in Kearney NE, Chico CA,Toledo OH or Flint MI if it came down that to though

 

[drowsy12]

Fair. They have to be cool potentially doing it in Kearney NE, Chico CA,Toledo OH or Flint MI if it came down that to though

same advice I heard in 2010.

 

[medgator]

same advice I heard in 2010.

In 2010 it was about getting 2/3. Now it's 0-1/3. (Job location, quality and salary)

As former ASTRO president eichler told everyone.. The goal is a "job"

 

[OTN]

In 2010 it was about getting 2/3. Now it's 0-1/3. (Job location, quality and salary)

As former ASTRO president eichler told everyone.. The goal is a "job"

Given this, I don't think it's very nice to label new grads as greedy/not caring about The Calling/only concerned with lifestyle etc, when they have to look out for themselves or else they can end up totally, completely, objectively screwed. This was not the case when someone who is retiring now entered the field.

 

[Neuronix]

same advice I heard in 2010.

I did not get that advice in 2010. This seems revisionist to me. Our old program director says they got seven job offers out of training in our large, coastal metro in the early 2000s and picked the academic option. It is laughable that would happen to anyone today.

SDN was around in 2010 and just as influential then in my opinion. But, the gloom and doom attitudes you see about the job market today did not appear in a serious way until the mid-late 2010s when the specialty competitiveness fell off a cliff. SDN was not new or gaining dramatically in popularity at that point. I firmly believe that the posts here and resulting drop in interest from medical students reflected the grassroots sentiment of graduating radiation oncology residents.

ABR randomly failing half of a resident class on boards without ever owning up to it or making amends also did not help the situation.

 

[drowsy12]

I did not get that advice in 2010. This seems revisionist to me. Our old program director says they got seven job offers out of training in our large, coastal metro in the early 2000s and picked the academic option. It is laughable that would happen to anyone today.

SDN was around in 2010 and just as influential then in my opinion. But, the gloom and doom attitudes you see about the job market today did not appear in a serious way until the mid-late 2010s when the specialty competitiveness fell off a cliff. SDN was not new or gaining dramatically in popularity at that point. I firmly believe that the posts here and resulting drop in interest from medical students reflected the grassroots sentiment of graduating radiation oncology residents.

ABR randomly failing half of a resident class on boards without ever owning up to it or making amends also did not help the situation.

On the first page of this forum you can see the faqs that were bumped not long ago. The location issues are discussed. I read the same posts 15 years ago and knew that rad onc was a small field and location for jobs was an issue.

I don’t think this is controversial?

 

[medgator]

On the first page of this forum you can see the faqs that were bumped not long ago. The location issues are discussed. I read the same posts 15 years ago and knew that rad onc was a small field and location for jobs was an issue.

I don’t think this is controversial?

It is worse now. Not sure what else to say except I echo @Neuronix sentiments. Much less choice in practice type, location, salary potential etc. Like I said now the battle is getting 0-1/3 when it was an expectation to get 2/3 in 2010.

Honestly has anyone partnered into a technical component on this forum within the last 5-7 years? Gonna guess no. Many of us did over a decade ago. I'm guessing it's a 🦄 now to see someone partner into any kind of technical.

Doesn't help that ASTRO and CMS have both been actively trying to destroy PP and physician ownership of radiation through outright overtraining, ASTRO PAC and a reimbursement landscape that the best AHA lobbyists came up with when it came to cutting freestanding everything and paying hospitals more for the same service.

Probably a little bit better now geographically but much worse in terms of autonomy IMO. You are going to be employed from day 1

 

[iradi8r]

I can only say what my experience was as a resident from the early 90's.

Jobs in metro locations that were not academic were virtually nonexistent.

I interviewed all over the country and luckily found a position in a place many would consider ideal. However I was seriously considering jobs in places most here would never look at.

The first job was in an archaic practice with terrible equipment. The money was just OK. The partners were older and supportive. I felt it was a diamond in the rough. I built my first center with the hospital there. They owned it. I designed it. I was paid nothing but respect for those efforts. I did however have a great place to work after.

Is that much better than today? You be the judge.

 

[drowsy12]

Honestly has anyone partnered into a technical component on this forum within the last 5-7 years? Gonna guess no.

oh there is no question on this, but again I would argue that was already fairly rare a decade ago. but no question.

like I always say - the corporatization of medicine is the original sin. Consolidation has killed entrepreneurship in medicine and rad onc even more specifically.

 

[iradi8r]

Honestly has anyone partnered into a technical component on this forum within the last 5-7 years? Gonna guess no. Many of us did over a decade ago. I'm guessing it's a 🦄 now to see someone partner into any kind of technical.

If the right doctor came along and wanted to buy in to my technical, I would happily do it. The problem is it is a lot of money, and few have the stomach to risk it in this environment.

 

[medgator]

I can only say what my experience was as a resident from the early 90's.

It was awful back then too which is why leadership did the right thing and shut down a bunch of programs and spots and extended training by a year

DEFINE_ME

Rad onc has never had an undersupply problem. But this isn't the first time they've an oversupply one. Nowadays, leadership doesn't care

 

[medgator]

oh there is no question on this, but again I would argue that was already fairly rare a decade ago. but no question.

like I always say - the corporatization of medicine is the original sin. Consolidation has killed entrepreneurship in medicine and rad onc even more specifically.

Graduating too many residents helps no one except those employing said residents. Graduating 110 A year when I left training was a far different environment. Not sure what else to say

It isn't the same now. It just isn't