ACR Paper: Radiation Oncology Work Force, Job Satisfaction Grow
More radiation oncologists are entering the work force and more of them are satisfied with their jobs than five years ago, according to the ACR research paper, Radiation Oncologists in the United States, to be published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics (IJROBP).
Given the increased use of radiation therapy in the treatment of cancer, the paper's objective is to provide an extensive, detailed portrait of radiation oncologists, including their professional activities and the practices in which they work, and to assess trends in the number of radiation oncologists over the past decade.
Major findings of the paper include:
- The number of post-training, professionally active radiation oncologists grew from nearly 2,900 in 1995 to nearly 3,500 in 2003, an increase of approximately 21 percent.
- The proportion of radiation oncologists planning a career change decreased from 8 percent in 1995 to 4 percent in 2003.
- In 2003, 34 percent of post-training, professionally active radiation oncologists said they were enjoying radiation oncology more than they were five years earlier, compared with 21 percent in 1995.
- The average annual number of patients treated (curative and palliative) per radiation oncologist was 264 in 2003.
The ACR, as part of its mission of providing important and useful information to the professions it serves, periodically conducts large-scale, multitopic surveys of the members of these professions and their practices. The latest of these is the 2003 Survey of Radiologists and Radiation Oncologists.
Radiation Oncologists in the United States is currently available online at www.redjournal.org, the Web site for the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics.
The abstract is available to all, and the full version to subscribers only. The paper is currently in press at IJROBP. The exact date of the print publication has yet to be announced.