Background There has been a national decline in applicants to radiation oncology (RO) residencies in recent years, which is partly a result of limited exposure to RO during medical school [1]. Student Interest Groups (SIGs) give students early exposure to a variety of specialties. We recently revamped our RO-SIG to increase engagement, meet mentors in the field, and to grant shadowing experiences early in medical school.The purpose of this study is to determine if the RO-SIG increases interest in and knowledge about the field. Methods The RO-SIG hosted two career panels in 2022, which were attended by 41 M1-2 students. Prior to the events surveys were emailed to those who registered asking them about their interest in oncology, in RO specifically, and their perceived accessibility of mentors in oncology fields. These questions were rated on a Likert scale from 0-5 (5 highest, 0 lowest). The survey included one short response question, "what is your understanding of the role of the RO?" which was evaluated qualitatively. Additionally, all students registered for the RO-SIG were given the opportunity to sign up for shadowing in the RO clinic. These students are surveyed before and after the shadowing experience. The same survey was emailed after either event to the students who participated. The results were tabulated and matched responses were compared. Results 34 students (32 M1s, 2 M2s) completed the pre-survey and 15 (14 M1s, 1 M2) completed the post-event survey. The interest in both an oncology specialty and in RO increased from the initial to the post-SIG survey. Of the 15 matched responses, the interest in oncology increased from 3.73 pre-SIG to 4 (p=0.05) and in RO specifically from 3.4 to 4 (p=0.05). The mean perceived accessibility of faculty mentors in oncology increased from 3.2 to 3.73 (p=0.03). Prior to interacting with the RO-SIG, 3/15 students did not know anything about RO, 7 said ROs "use radiation to treat cancers, and 4 said they "work in a team of oncologists." Post-event, the answers were more detailed in the understanding of the ROs "long-term relationships with patients'' and "ability to both cure and palliate cancer patients." Discussion RO-SIGs can increase interest in oncology and RO. Medical students enjoy the opportunity to gain early exposure to this specialty and benefit from connecting with mentors. Reference: Wu et al. The Declining Residency Applicant Pool: A Multi-Institutional Medical Student Survey to Identify Precipitating Factors. Adv Radiat Oncol,2021. There has been a national decline in applicants to radiation oncology (RO) residencies in recent years, which is partly a result of limited exposure to RO during medical school [1]. Student Interest Groups (SIGs) give students early exposure to a variety of specialties. We recently revamped our RO-SIG to increase engagement, meet mentors in the field, and to grant shadowing experiences early in medical school.The purpose of this study is to determine if the RO-SIG increases interest in and knowledge about the field. The RO-SIG hosted two career panels in 2022, which were attended by 41 M1-2 students. Prior to the events surveys were emailed to those who registered asking them about their interest in oncology, in RO specifically, and their perceived accessibility of mentors in oncology fields. These questions were rated on a Likert scale from 0-5 (5 highest, 0 lowest). The survey included one short response question, "what is your understanding of the role of the RO?" which was evaluated qualitatively. Additionally, all students registered for the RO-SIG were given the opportunity to sign up for shadowing in the RO clinic. These students are surveyed before and after the shadowing experience. The same survey was emailed after either event to the students who participated. The results were tabulated and matched responses were compared. 34 students (32 M1s, 2 M2s) completed the pre-survey and 15 (14 M1s, 1 M2) completed the post-event survey. The interest in both an oncology specialty and in RO increased from the initial to the post-SIG survey. Of the 15 matched responses, the interest in oncology increased from 3.73 pre-SIG to 4 (p=0.05) and in RO specifically from 3.4 to 4 (p=0.05). The mean perceived accessibility of faculty mentors in oncology increased from 3.2 to 3.73 (p=0.03). Prior to interacting with the RO-SIG, 3/15 students did not know anything about RO, 7 said ROs "use radiation to treat cancers, and 4 said they "work in a team of oncologists." Post-event, the answers were more detailed in the understanding of the ROs "long-term relationships with patients'' and "ability to both cure and palliate cancer patients." RO-SIGs can increase interest in oncology and RO. Medical students enjoy the opportunity to gain early exposure to this specialty and benefit from connecting with mentors. Reference: Wu et al. The Declining Residency Applicant Pool: A Multi-Institutional Medical Student Survey to Identify Precipitating Factors. Adv Radiat Oncol,2021.