I worked as a ARNP covering the chemo infusion room for 5 years before I decided to go back to medical school. Yes, my wife supports me, but still thinks I'm crazy for going back to school. She thinks I'm even crazier for thinking of rad onc instead of heme onc for a couple of reasons.
a) The physics, planning, the technology is much more interesting. There is an art to the treatment. It's not just about dosing a drug. I went into heme onc out of school b/c there is a limited role for in rad onc vs heme onc for nurse practitioners, not because I was less interested in radonc at the time.
b) We have a young kid, with another on the way. You just can't beat the lifestyle of radonc. It is not about the money. A life on the other hand would be nice.
c) stupid, but applying once rather than twice. It is expensive, time consuming, exhaustive.
d) i want to stay in oncology, don't like surgery enough to do it as surg onc, but would get enough of it with radonc that I would be happy.
Some of my concerns
a) it is a small field - hard to find jobs where you want them. If I did heme onc- much wider geography.
b) inc in # of residency spots can mean inc difficulty finding positions. I heard from a couple of people that this past year was especially difficult because of the economy that we live in.
c) all my publications are in heme onc - not a single rad onc. My school does have a radonc program luckily but I am not sure I will have time to get much done before applications. Uphill battle explaining that i want to do radonc compared to someone with no clinical experience at all?
d) I am not at the top of my class, don't have a 250 on step 1, not AOA. I'm average(sigh). I worry that my application might not even be looked at.
a) The physics, planning, the technology is much more interesting. There is an art to the treatment. It's not just about dosing a drug. I went into heme onc out of school b/c there is a limited role for in rad onc vs heme onc for nurse practitioners, not because I was less interested in radonc at the time.
b) We have a young kid, with another on the way. You just can't beat the lifestyle of radonc. It is not about the money. A life on the other hand would be nice.
c) stupid, but applying once rather than twice. It is expensive, time consuming, exhaustive.
d) i want to stay in oncology, don't like surgery enough to do it as surg onc, but would get enough of it with radonc that I would be happy.
Some of my concerns
a) it is a small field - hard to find jobs where you want them. If I did heme onc- much wider geography.
b) inc in # of residency spots can mean inc difficulty finding positions. I heard from a couple of people that this past year was especially difficult because of the economy that we live in.
c) all my publications are in heme onc - not a single rad onc. My school does have a radonc program luckily but I am not sure I will have time to get much done before applications. Uphill battle explaining that i want to do radonc compared to someone with no clinical experience at all?
d) I am not at the top of my class, don't have a 250 on step 1, not AOA. I'm average(sigh). I worry that my application might not even be looked at.
