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- Dec 17, 2017
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Hi all, I'm a US MD student who has been interested in radiation oncology for a long time, but have been receiving mixed advice about continuing to pursue the specialty in the face of all the supply/demand concerns and reimbursement. I've scoured all the threads on SDN in an effort to get more informal information, and it all seems to be mixed (reflecting the advice I got from my mentors across different specialties).
My question is--I know historically a few fields have gone through "crises" the same way rad onc is going through right now (supply/demand concerns with CT surgery when cardiologists started doing procedures, future of diagnostic radiology concerns with AI, etc) but that these fields largely "fixed" themselves by innovating new procedures/technology, discovering a new niche in care, or controlling supply/demand issues by shrinking training programs (CT Surg).
Since we can't seem to control program expansion/shrinkage, I'm wondering what new technology/innovation might keep radiation oncology relevant and maybe cause a rebound of the field in medical care? I.e. will Flash/hypofrac allow us to better compete with surgeons for cancers where surgery vs. radiation have similar outcomes? Will radionuclide therapy become more mainstream for rad onc depts in the future? Will "new types of radiation" (ex. Optune for brain cancer) start popping up that the field can use? Trying to hold on to my reasons to apply into rad onc since i loved the field so much RIP.
My question is--I know historically a few fields have gone through "crises" the same way rad onc is going through right now (supply/demand concerns with CT surgery when cardiologists started doing procedures, future of diagnostic radiology concerns with AI, etc) but that these fields largely "fixed" themselves by innovating new procedures/technology, discovering a new niche in care, or controlling supply/demand issues by shrinking training programs (CT Surg).
Since we can't seem to control program expansion/shrinkage, I'm wondering what new technology/innovation might keep radiation oncology relevant and maybe cause a rebound of the field in medical care? I.e. will Flash/hypofrac allow us to better compete with surgeons for cancers where surgery vs. radiation have similar outcomes? Will radionuclide therapy become more mainstream for rad onc depts in the future? Will "new types of radiation" (ex. Optune for brain cancer) start popping up that the field can use? Trying to hold on to my reasons to apply into rad onc since i loved the field so much RIP.
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