CAREER DEVELOPMENT IN ACADEMIC RADIATION ONCOLOGY

SECTION I: CAREER PLANNING
• Career Options in Radiation Oncology
• Foundations for a Successful Career
• Approaching Your Academic Career
• Strategies for Applicants Belonging to Underrepresented Groups
SECTION II: APPLYING TO FACULTY POSITIONS
• Informational Interviews / Interviewing for a Position
• Preparing your CV and Cover Letter
• Evaluating Your Contract/Medical Legal Considerations
• Changing Jobs
SECTION III: EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT
• Identifying and utilizing mentors
• Conflict Resolution and Interpersonal Strategies
• Aligning Your Goals with Your Colleagues, Department, and Institution
• Working with Staff and Colleagues
• Becoming a Clinician: Organization, Interprofessional Considerations, Documentation, Billing, and Insurance
• Becoming an educator: giving feedback, supervising trainees, formal didactics
• Becoming a researcher: Grants & Budgets; Reviewing and Writing Papers; and the IRB
• Radiation Oncology Career development in an Academic Satellite Network
• When life happens: parental leave, part-time schedules and flexible workplace strategies
SECTION IV: MID AND SENIOR CAREER
• Professionalism: Instincts Below the Surface and Environmental Influences
• Promotions
• Maintenance and Assessment of Skills and Knowledge Over the Career Continuum
• Networking
• Leadership versus Service: What’s the Difference? Is There a Difference?
• Disease Site Leadership
• Role of the Department Chair
• Successful Strategies to Exploit the Intersection Between the Radiation Oncology Department and Cancer Center
• Business Development from Research, Entrepreneurship Within Academic Medicine
• An Approach to the Management of Selected Personnel and Ethical Problems in Academic Radiation Oncology
• Approaching strategic planning
SECTION V: MISCELLANEOUS CONTEXT ISSUES
• Handling Burnout
• Preparing for retirement and career transitions
• Personal Finance and Work-Life Balance
• Paying it forward: being a good mentor, steward, and colleague.

This book offers comprehensive career development advice for professionals in radiation oncology. While numerous texts have been published to advise medical students on entry into the specialty, and to guide residents and junior faculty with exam preparation, there remains a need for a comprehensive resource that covers topics pertinent to a successful career within radiation oncology. This text has been edited and written by leading experts in the field, and offers multiple unique vantage points.
This work is divided into five sections covering career planning, applying to faculty positions, early career development, mid and senior career considerations, and contextual issues. Throughout the text, authors balance “nuts and bolts” (e.g., preparing your CV and evaluating a contract) with big picture considerations. Each chapter is written concisely, yet comprehensively, from the vantage point of a mentor advising a mentee; questions to review with local mentors and additional reading suggestions are also provided. Issues of workforce disparities, conscious and unconscious bias, work-life equilibrium, and interpersonal conflict, and how these may impact one’s career path, are also closely addressed. While the work is primarily targeted to those pursuing career paths within academic medicine, there is also distinct value and tailored content for trainees and radiation oncologists practicing in hospital-based, hybrid or community settings.
In a period of rapid change in the healthcare sector and cancer care more specifically, this book will serve as the premier reference for those pursuing an independent career in radiation oncology.

Features
• Provides a career development guide for radiation oncology professionals
• Offers advice for all stages of career, from those starting out to those who are well established
• Includes practical guidance for things like writing CVs and interviewing while also considering overall life and career goals