• Rebecca S Lewis and Jonathan H Sunshine.
• Research Department, American College of Radiology, Reston, VA 20191, USA. rlewis@acr.org
• Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 2007 Oct 1; 69 (2): 518-27.

PurposeTo provide an extensive and detailed portrait of radiation oncologists, their professional activities, and the practices in which they work.Methods And MaterialsWe analyzed non-individually identified data from the American College of Radiology's 2003 Survey of Radiation Oncologists, a stratified random sample survey that guaranteed respondents' confidentiality and achieved a 68% response rate, with a total of 472 responses. Responses were weighted to make them representative of all radiation oncologists in the United States. We use two-tailed z tests of percentages and means to compare information from the current survey with those from a similar 1995 survey.ResultsThe number of posttraining, professionally active radiation oncologists grew from nearly 2900 in 1995 to nearly 3500 in 2003, an increase of approximately 21%. Twenty-three percent of posttraining, professionally active radiation oncologists were women. Among posttraining, professionally active radiation oncologists, 95% were board-certified. Forty-eight percent of radiation oncologists were in nonacademic, radiation-oncology-only private practices; 20% in academic practice; 14% in nonacademic, multispecialty practices; and 11% in solo practice. The largest percentage of radiation oncologists worked in the South (34%). The average annual number of patients treated (curative and palliative) per radiation oncologist was 264. On average, radiation oncologists preferred a 4% increase in their workload. The proportion of radiation oncologists planning a career change decreased from 8% in 1995 to 4% in 2003, and in 2003 34% said they were enjoying radiation oncology more than 5 years earlier, compared with 21% in 1995.ConclusionDespite concerns in 2003 about lower-than-optimal workload, professional satisfaction, if anything, increased since 1995.

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