Early Career Outcomes for Radiation Oncologists Interested in Global Health: A Survey of Recent Graduates from ARRO, ACRO, and CARO

Abstract

To describe the job-seeking experience of recently graduated North American radiation oncologists with a prior interest in global health. The authors distributed an online survey to PGY-5 residents and recent graduates (2010-2016) affiliated with the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ARRO), Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology (CARO), and American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) who either served on a global health subcommittee or won a resident society scholarship to rotate abroad in a resource-limited setting. Respondents were queried about global health activities while in training, interest in integrating global health into their career, job placement outcomes, and barriers to integrating global health into their first job placement after residency. Survey responses were compiled using Qualtrics. Of 54 contactable physicians, 22 responses (41%) were received. Seventeen (77%) were affiliated with ARRO, five (23%) with CARO, and two (9%) were affiliated with ARRO & ACRO. Of these 22, with some in multiple categories, fourteen (64%) entered residency with the goal of incorporating global health into their career. Twelve (55%) completed a rotation in a resource-limited setting during residency, twelve (55%) completed research activities related to global health, and eight (36%) received grant funding for global health related projects during residency. Seventeen (77%) sought to continue global health activities when they entered clinical practice. Nine (53%) desired to incorporate global health activities into their academic career and eight (47%) planned to continue global health activities on their own time. Of the respondents who desired to incorporate global health into their career and responded about their success (n=13), success was judged as completely unsuccessful (n=5, 28%), somewhat unsuccessful (n=1, 6%), somewhat successful (n=3, 17%), and very successful (n=4, 22%). Barriers encountered during the job search were lack of protected academic time (n=10, 45%), lack of research funding (n=9, 41%), lack of time for international travel (n=9, 41%), lack of opportunity (n=7, 32%), lack of interest of chair/hiring partner (n=7, 32%), lack of knowledge of how to pursue global health interest (n=7, 32%), and lack of mentorship (n=6, 27%). For the seven respondents who listed factors associated with a successful integration of global health into their career, the most common factor listed was chairperson/departmental support (n=3, 43%). Early career outcomes for radiation oncologists interested in global health appear mixed for integrating global health into their initial job with numerous barriers encountered. Chairperson support is a potentially very important factor for careers in global radiation oncology. This survey can serve as a baseline for future analyses for global radiation oncology career outcomes.