Review

. 2019 Sep 1;105(1):52-63.

doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.05.025. Epub 2019 May 22.

Enhancing Career Paths for Tomorrow's Radiation Oncologists

Neha Vapiwala¹, Charles R Thomas Jr², Surbhi Grover³, Mei Ling Yap⁴, Timur Mitin⁵, Lawrence N Shulman⁶, Mary K Gospodarowicz⁷, John Longo⁸, Daniel G Petereit⁹, Ronald D Ennis¹⁰, James A Hayman¹¹, Danielle Rodin¹², Jeffrey C Buchsbaum¹³, Bhadrasain Vikram¹⁴, May Abdel-Wahab¹⁵, Alan H Epstein¹⁶, Paul Okunieff¹⁷, Joel Goldwein¹⁸, Patrick Kupelian¹⁹, Joanne B Weidhaas²⁰, Margaret A Tucker²¹, John D Boice Jr²², Clifton David Fuller²³, Reid F Thompson²⁴, Andrew D Trister², Silvia C Formenti²⁵, Mary-Helen Barcellos-Hoff²⁶, Joshua Jones⁶, Kavita V Dharmarajan²⁷, Anthony L Zietman²⁸, C Norman Coleman²⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: vapiwala@uphs.upenn.edu.
² Department of Radiation Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.
³ Department of Radiation Oncology, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.
⁴ Collaboration for Cancer Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Ingham Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Liverpool and Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, Australia; School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia.
⁵ Department of Radiation Medicine Director, Program in Global Radiation Medicine, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.
⁶ Department of Radiation Oncology, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
⁷ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Cancer Clinical Research Unit, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ Department of Radiation Oncology Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
⁹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Rapid City Regional Cancer Care Institute, Rapid City, South Dakota.
¹⁰ Clinical Network for Radiation Oncology, Rutgers and Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
¹¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
¹² Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹³ Radiation Research Program, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
¹⁴ Clinical Radiation Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
¹⁵ Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria.
¹⁶ Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.
¹⁷ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida Health Cancer Center, Gainesville, Florida.
¹⁸ Department of Radiation Oncology, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁹ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, California.
²⁰ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; MiraDx, Los Angeles, California.
²¹ Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
²² National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, Maryland; Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
²³ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
²⁴ Department of Radiation Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon; VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon.
²⁵ Department of Radiation Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York City, New York.
²⁶ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
²⁷ Department of Radiation Oncology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, New York.
²⁸ Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
²⁹ National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

PMID: 31128144
PMCID: PMC7084166
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.05.025

Review

Enhancing Career Paths for Tomorrow's Radiation Oncologists

Neha Vapiwala et al. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2019.

. 2019 Sep 1;105(1):52-63.

doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.05.025. Epub 2019 May 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: vapiwala@uphs.upenn.edu.
² Department of Radiation Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.
³ Department of Radiation Oncology, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.
⁴ Collaboration for Cancer Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Ingham Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Liverpool and Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, Australia; School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia.
⁵ Department of Radiation Medicine Director, Program in Global Radiation Medicine, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.
⁶ Department of Radiation Oncology, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
⁷ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Cancer Clinical Research Unit, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ Department of Radiation Oncology Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
⁹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Rapid City Regional Cancer Care Institute, Rapid City, South Dakota.
¹⁰ Clinical Network for Radiation Oncology, Rutgers and Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
¹¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
¹² Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹³ Radiation Research Program, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
¹⁴ Clinical Radiation Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
¹⁵ Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria.
¹⁶ Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.
¹⁷ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida Health Cancer Center, Gainesville, Florida.
¹⁸ Department of Radiation Oncology, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁹ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, California.
²⁰ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; MiraDx, Los Angeles, California.
²¹ Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
²² National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, Maryland; Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
²³ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
²⁴ Department of Radiation Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon; VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon.
²⁵ Department of Radiation Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York City, New York.
²⁶ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
²⁷ Department of Radiation Oncology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, New York.
²⁸ Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
²⁹ National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

PMID: 31128144
PMCID: PMC7084166
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.05.025

No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Notifications:

Dr. Vapiwala has previously received speaker honoraria and travel reimbursement from Varian Medical Systems.

Dr. Petereit reports grant/research support from Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Polo Ralph Lauren and the Irving A. Hansen Memorial.

Dr. Goldwein is a full-time employee of Elekta AB.

Dr. Kupelian is an employee of Varian Medical Systems.

Dr. Weidhaas reports other from MiraDx, outside the submitted work, and a patent KRAS-variant in cancer with royalties paid to MiraDx.

Dr. Fuller has received industry-funded institutional grant support, speaker honoraria, and travel funding from Elekta AB.

Dr. Okunieff is an inventor and founder of a company that markets biomarker technologies, DiaCarta.com.

Dr. Formenti reports grant/research support from Bristol Myers Squibb, Varian, Janssen, Regeneron, Eisai, Merck, Celldex and honoraria form Bristol Myers Squibb, Varian, Elekta, Janssen, Regeneron, GlaxoSmithKline, Eisai, Dynavax, AstraZeneca, Merck, Viewray, Bayer.

Dr. Mitin reports personal fees from UpToDate, Inc. and Janssen and grants from Novocure, Inc.

Dr. Zietman reports his role as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics.

The remaining authors do not report any relevant conflicts of interest regarding the sections which they co-authored.

Figures

**Fig. 1.**
Expanding the scope of radiation oncology careers. The circles each represent existing careers considered in this paper that are evolving and carry potential for new dimensions. They are a mixture of hybrid positions that can be additive to clinical radiation oncology practice (eg, outcomes and policy), positions that could require additional formal training (eg, epidemiology or palliative care), and full-time opportunities (eg, government service and industry). The number of opportunities per year are estimates based on current experience and ongoing early expansion; creation (ie, new positions that need to be filled) of even 20 full-time equivalents annually (10%–15% of graduates) could have a substantial impact on radiation oncology. Some areas, such as global health, could require many more individuals per year and offer the opportunity for fully or partially retired radiation oncologists to increase years of work, serving as mentors for program building in underserved communities globally and domestically and opening or accelerating opportunities for those earlier in their career.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

The Radiation Oncology "Medical Educator" Career Path.
Fernandez C, Corbin KC, Golden DW. Fernandez C, et al. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020 Jan 1;106(1):50-51. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.10.035. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020. PMID: 31836089 No abstract available.

References

1. Falit BP, Pan HY, Smith BD, et al. The Radiation Oncology Job Market: The Economics and Policy of Workforce Regulation. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2016;96:501–10. - PubMed
1. Pan HY, Haffty BG, Falit BP, et al. Supply and Demand for Radiation Oncology in the United States: Updated Projections for 2015 to 2025. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2016;96:493–500. - PubMed
1. Royce TJ, Katz MS, Vapiwala N. Training the Radiation Oncology Workforce of the Future: Course Correction to Supply the Demand. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2017;97:881–883. - PubMed
1. Smith BD, Haffty BG, Wilson LD, et al. The future of radiation oncology in the United States from 2010 to 2020: will supply keep pace with demand? J Clin Oncol 2010;28:5160–5. - PubMed
1. Fung CY, Chen E, Vapiwala N, et al. The American Society for Radiation Oncology 2017 Radiation Oncologist Workforce Study. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2018. - PubMed

Publication types

Actions
Actions

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
- The Lens - Patent Citations Database

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Enhancing Career Paths for Tomorrow's Radiation Oncologists

Affiliations

Enhancing Career Paths for Tomorrow's Radiation Oncologists

Authors

Affiliations

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

Comment in

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources