A week in the life
Two sample weeks, to make the difference concrete. Every practice is different, so treat these as illustrations, then ask the oncologists you work with what their own week looks like.
| Day | Community oncologist | Academic oncologist (single disease) |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Full clinic: follow-ups across breast, lung, GI and anemia referrals. Hospital consults over lunch. | Research day: data review with the statistician, manuscript revisions, trial protocol meeting. |
| Tuesday | Full clinic with two or three new patients. Afternoon call from the hospital about a new leukemia. | Disease clinic: new and returning lung cancer patients, many on clinical trials, with a fellow and a research nurse. |
| Wednesday | Morning tumor board, then clinic. Infusion chair questions all day. | Multidisciplinary tumor board. Afternoon writing, guideline committee call and mentoring residents. |
| Thursday | Full clinic: myeloma, prostate, iron deficiency, a new lymphoma. Prior authorizations and peer-to-peer calls. | Second clinic half day. Afternoon grant writing or a study section review. |
| Friday | Clinic or a half day, plus inpatient rounding on the practice’s hospitalized patients. | Teaching conference, then travel to give an invited talk or attend a meeting. |
| Call | Shared practice call, often covering all of hem/onc. | Periodic inpatient or consult service weeks, often within your disease area. |
Questions that reveal the real week
- How many clinic days do you have, and how many patients do you see in a typical clinic?
- How many new patients per week?
- How often are you on call or on the inpatient service, and what does it cover?
- How much of your time is protected for research or teaching, and who pays for it?
- How much time goes to inbox messages, prior authorizations and documentation?
- What do you wish you had known about this job before you took it?