Oncologist Career
Oncologist Job Description
Oncologists are medical professionals with advanced training and experience that is indispensable to inspect, observe, diagnose and treat cancers. Diseases that they manage are gastric cancer, esophagus cancer, breast cancer, brain tumors, bone cancer, Hodgkin's disease, bowel cancer, and lymphomas.
An oncologist uses radiotherapy integrated with chemotherapy to treat or palliate the cancer. He will discuss with the patients the most appropriate line of treatment and will answer queries that the patients have.
He may pursue a specialty or sub-specialty field, such as, pediatric oncology, gynecological oncology, surgical oncology, etc.
Oncologist Education, Certification and Training
• At the college level, pre-med study subjects, such as, molecular chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, biology, anatomy, and advanced math are recommended.
• Excellent scores are essential in the Medical College Admissions Test to gain admission in to a medical school.
• Once you have gained admission, you need to pass the first and the second stages of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), prior to the Residency Program.
• Next, you must acquire a Doctor of Medicine degree (MD) from an accredited Medical School, which takes about 4 years.
• Thereafter, you start the specialized training course. After the MD, you must finish a residency program acknowledged by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and pass the third stage of the USMLE. Residency training takes 2 - 4 years.
• You then complete schooling in a specialty training program.
• After the fellowship, an oncologist submits an application for Board Certification / Licensing.
• He may also undertake further training in sub-specialties domains, such as, pediatric oncology, hematology, etc. Separate licensing is necessary to practice sub-specialties.
Oncologist Jobs
Employment opportunities for oncologists are estimated to grow faster than average. Oncologist jobs are projected to increase. With lots of research and understanding about cancer, job prospects for oncologists appear really good. Oncology will see a powerful growth, specially, in response to patients’ demand for specialty care.
With an increasing aging population, advances in research, better diagnostic techniques, and new treatment options, oncologists will have tremendous employment opportunities.
An oncologist may have a private practice, or be affiliated to hospitals, health care centers, medical centers, university hospitals and research organizations.
Oncologist Salary
An oncologist’s salary is approximately in the range of $180,000 - $220,000 per year. The earnings largely depend on the location, employer, specialty, education and qualification and experience.
