Where to get more info re: job market?

[ak6819]

MS3 here with a long standing interest in rad onc. The one thing that has me concerned is the tremendous amount of doom and gloom that I've been seeing regarding the future of the rad onc job market (especially on these forums). It's concerning to not know what opportunities I'll have 6-7 years from now, after spending a considerable amount of time and money invested into this career.

I was wondering if there are any other resources out there for me to get maybe alternative perspectives on this issue? I've talked w/ the senior residents at our home program, but with an n of 2 it's hard to tell... and I'm not quite comfortable discussing this subject with attendings.

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[Chartreuse Wombat]

The Radiation Oncology Job Market: The Economics and Policy of Workforce Regulation. - PubMed - NCBI
The most recent analysis is at the link above. Bottom line is that supply is expected to outpace demand. Generally that is a bad thing for potential job seekers (decreased wages). OTOH hospitals and other employers will love this as it gives them more negotiating power.

 

[Neuronix]

Canaries in a Coal Mine

Curious what your n of 2 are saying.

 

[ak6819]

I did read that 2016 pub, it's a concerning trend, I'm wondering how it to compares to other specialties (path, rads, gas), and if it might be a general trend that we are seeing in almost all medical specialties now.

For the n of 2, undesirable locations are readily available, and finding a job regionally also seems doable with some legwork and networking. The big challenge is breaking into even somewhat desirable locations that have no connections with our program.

 

[Neuronix]

For the n of 2, undesirable locations are readily available, and finding a job regionally also seems doable with some legwork and networking. The big challenge is breaking into even somewhat desirable locations that have no connections with our program.

Sounds right for the job market overall. If you want academics, you should be prepared to go anywhere.

 

[OTN]

I did read that 2016 pub, it's a concerning trend, I'm wondering how it to compares to other specialties (path, rads, gas), and if it might be a general trend that we are seeing in almost all medical specialties now.

For the n of 2, undesirable locations are readily available, and finding a job regionally also seems doable with some legwork and networking. The big challenge is breaking into even somewhat desirable locations that have no connections with our program.

Even when I was job searching 9 years ago, getting a good job in a desirable location was challenging.

 

[medgator]

I did read that 2016 pub, it's a concerning trend, I'm wondering how it to compares to other specialties (path, rads, gas), and if it might be a general trend that we are seeing in almost all medical specialties now.

For the n of 2, undesirable locations are readily available, and finding a job regionally also seems doable with some legwork and networking. The big challenge is breaking into even somewhat desirable locations that have no connections with our program.

My gut reaction is not as bad as path, but prob worse than gas/rads at least when we're talking about location availability.

There are still well paid jobs in rad onc if you are completely flexible on location.

As an example, smaller areas may only need 8-10 rad oncs (for a 500K population area), while they probably need a lot gas and rads people. I get the sense that path has been awful for awhile