Is there harm in doing a radiation oncology fellowship?

Short answer: yes. Detailed explanation below.

Your excellent question brings up the fact that there are currently more and more non ACGME accredited fellowships emerging (More than 20 the last time I checked!!! Some programs even have multiple fellowships, and there is even a 2 year fellowship whic...

There are some areas where additional experience can be helpful and valuable such as pediatrics, brachytherapy, palliative care, etc. Even if one feels they have been adequately trained in all of these areas, there are times when the job you are looking for is just not avaialble. I think one is bett...

Thank you for your responses, doctors.

@Dr. First Last, @Dr. First Last - All US radiation oncology fellowships are unaccredited - how can quality be determined if there are no standards? A private practice in Chicago has a proton fellowship. How can a resident know that they won't be essentially an...

I would encourage all ROs to participate in the upcoming ASTRO 2017 Physician Workforce Survey. One of the goals of the survey is to determine the supply/demand balance for ROs. This trend of increasing number of fellows may be another indication of oversupply of ROs being trained.

The answer depends on the goals of the radiation oncology trainee in question.

For those interested in a research, a fellowship can be a springboard to a very successful career. Certainly the bread and butter of radiation oncology can be learned within residency, but often a fellowship allows the tr...

I think it is important that one has a set goal before considering a fellowship. I agree with @Dr. First Last that if one is embarking on an academic career, doing a fellowship in a very reputable place can be very helpful boosting one's research skill sets and network. It can also broaden one's hor...

For the private practice perspective, I agree with the upfront suspicion of seeing a fellowship on an application but that can be a big positive for a private practice as well.

We don't all get to pick which residency program we are matched with. Often times, for many of us, you go where you match ...

I agree with Drs. Lo and Palma. The goal of a fellowship ideally should be to acquire specialized skills in a complex site such as Peds or H&N, or the required research exposure and mentorship to launch an academic career. Such fellowships from reputable institutions would be viewed extremely positi...

I direct a fellowship at Mayo and have a couple additional thoughts to add:

There are really 2 different groups of people doing fellowship and you should think about them differently from a hiring perspective. Canada is the number 1 source for fellowships to our program and those rad oncs are excell...

We have older doctors practicing radiation oncology who don't have formal training in IMRT, SRS, HDR, etc. In light of that, if I had a modern graduate from an accredited program with exposure to all of these modalities who still didn't feel comfortable practicing after 4 years of residency, I would...