r/radiationoncology

Spouse to a radiation oncology resident.

My husband was just informed after his program’s CCC meeting that he took enough time off during my second pregnancy that it’s put his average time off during residency too high (pregnancy with complications + parental leave + postpartum complications that I ended up in the hospital for several weeks means he took several months off during his PGY3 year) and he’ll likely have to make up a few months at the end of his residency. He’s coming into his PGY5 year July 1, and has been interviewing at a few different facilities. He’s told the interviewing facilities that his anticipated graduation is June of 2027. How should we approach having to update his graduation date with the facilities he’s already talking to? Do we just give up on those interview processes as a wash and start approaching new locations with the updated graduation date?

I’m about to graduate from radiation therapy school and I’ve been really conflicted on what direction to go next career wise. Right now I’m stuck between pursuing medical dosimetry or medical physics. I already have my bachelor’s degree in Biology, and I want to start applying to programs within the next few months, but I keep going back and forth.

I honestly feel more drawn to dosimetry because I like treatment planning and the day to day role and I hear a lot of great things from dosimetrists enjoying their job and how they have a flexible/great worklife, but what’s holding me back is constantly hearing people say AI is eventually going to take over a lot of the dosimetry field. I’m not sure how true that actually is, especially long term, so it’s been making me second guess things.

On the other hand, medical physics seems very stable and something im interested in, but from what I understand it would add a lot more years of schooling and training before actually being fully established in the field. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it or if I’d burn out before getting there.

I know there is a great difference in responsibilities/salary for both careers, but for people already working in either field, what would you realistically recommend right now? How do you see the future of dosimetry with AI? And for physicists, was the extra schooling and residency worth it in the end?

Hey! Would love to get some guidance from any attendings out there in the interwebs. I completed a general surgery intern year and have a strong background in sarcoma (20+ publications, 2 years of basic science) and was initially thinking of surgical oncology but for various reasons want to switch. It's obviously such a small specialty, but is applying through the match as a non-traditional applicant feasible? Since rad. onc. matches PGY2 positions I would be happy to do 1-2 years with a lab or research group to show commitment and build connections for LORs. No red flags on application, Step 2 was 255, and geographically flexible. Would appreciate guidance/mentorship, opportunities for observership, and I'm happy to send my CV, thank you!

I've had Stage IV breast cancer for more than eleven years so have had more CTs, PETs, and MRIs than I could possibly count. I have extensive/widespread bone mets plus several tumors in the liver. I'm on my fourth of fifth-line treatment, depending on how you count. I know the number of treatments are limited and when they run out...well, I'm done.

It's been my practice to drag my heels on changing treatment, riding each one out as long as possible, even if this involves some risk. I've begged oncologists to let me remain on treatment when the scan reports indicate worsening progression, and this has worked for me, adding anywhere from several months to several years to treatment. And I'm not talking about progression a couple months in...

On more than one occasion I've gotten a report that notes mostly or only areas that are worsening but when my medical oncologist and I look at the images, she'll see areas that are better, which would indicate a mixed response, and a decision to stay the course to see if the treatment is adequately keeping things at bay. In one case, the report noted a new met and the MO asked the RO to double check and, lo and behold, it was actually there previously.

I get the sense that ROs are either pessimistic by nature (!) or are more concerned about portraying a positive result than let's call it a "balanced" or even "optimistic" result.

Is there any truth to this? I think about all the patients whose MOs might rely solely on the RO read/report and so change treatment, robbing them of more *time*. How much do ROs consider the effect on patients' lives of being conservative in the interpretation or are they trained to look mostly for problems?

I see that this is not a very active subreddit, but am still hopeful for any insight someone in the field could provide.