S. Davuluri1, R. Vadhul2, and V. Bhatia1; 1Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, Voorhees, NJ, 2Ohio State College of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology, Columbus, OH
Purpose/Objective(s): Radiation Oncology is a fast-growing field with a total physician workforce of 5,150 and an increase of over 1,000 members in the past 15 years. As of 2023, there are 89 accredited post-graduate training programs with 765 total trainees. Our goal is to provide an updated descriptive analysis of residency program directors (PD) and highlight key findings. Materials/
Methods: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education public database was used to identify residency programs for this study. As of 2023, 89 programs were accredited and were included in our analysis. PDs were identified through this database and verified on departmental web pages. PDs’ genders and degrees were found through publicly available department and faculty pages. PDs’ Hirsch index (H-index), a metric that is often used to determine the research impact of a particular author, was found through Scopus author searches. A chi-square test was used to compare the gender make-up of radiation oncology PDs with the total radiation oncology workforce in the US. Results: Out of 89 PDs, 48 were male (53.9%) and 41 were female (46.1%). This difference was statistically significant, with a higher than expected female representation when compared to the total radiation oncology workforce (p-value < 0.01). All 89 PDs were MD physicians (100%) and none were DO physicians (0%). Of the 89 PDs, 60 only had MD degrees (67.4%), 19 were MD/PhD (21.3%), 7 were MD/MPH (7.9%), 2 were MD/MBA (2.2%), and 1 was MD/MHPE (1.1%). PD H-index values ranged from 1 to 47, with a mean of 15.7 and a standard deviation of 4.2. Conclusion: PDs play a pivotal role in shaping training programs and ultimately influencing the radiation oncology workforce. Our study shows that female radiation oncologists are well-represented in leadership, while osteopathic physicians are not represented. This work contributes to an ongoing effort to stay knowledgeable of and improve representation in trends of academic leadership.
