Abstract

Introduction: This paper reports the key findings of the Faculty of Radiation Oncology 2022 workforce census. This is the first census since the COVID-19 pandemic and questions have been updated to assess the impact on RANZCR trainees and fellows. This report focuses on the analysis of respondents from Australia, New Zealand and overseas members, with a separate paper to follow focusing exclusively on New Zealand respondents. Method: The census was conducted in mid-late 2022 with many questions repeated from previous censuses. New questions were asked about theranostics, working remotely, hypofractionation and the impact of COVID-19 on work practices. Results: The census was sent to 591 radiation oncologists with an overall response rate of 52%. Almost half of respondents (n = 94/210; 45%) indicated that COVID-19 had no impact on the uptake of hypofractionation. Hypofractionation was most used by respondents in breast and prostate treatment (n = 134/200; 67% and n = 112/194; 58% respectively). Five respondents (n = 5/270; 2%) currently practise in theranostics, with the majority treating thyroid cancers within the public sector. Just under half (n = 81/167; 49%) of invited trainees responded. The majority felt that COVID-19 had a negative impact on their training. There has been a decrease in the number of new fellows seeking to complete further fellowships. Employment remains at very high levels for new fellows (> 98%). Conclusion: The impact of COVID-19 on local practices and workloads was not as significant as seen overseas. There continues to be an increasing trend of radiation oncologists working in the private sector. The lack of indigenous representation within our profession continues to be an area that needs further attention.

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

1-1-2025

Volume

69

Issue

6

PubMed ID

40772671

Publication Title

Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology

Publisher

Wiley

School

School of Medical and Health Sciences

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Comments

Trinh, H., Stevens, N., Adams, G., Chee, R., Ha, T., Knesl, M., Mitchell, J., Nagpal, S., Sia, E., & Xing, D. (2025). Faculty of Radiation Oncology 2022 workforce census. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, 69(6), 687-695. https://doi.org/10.1111/1754-9485.13883

First Page

687

Last Page

695

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1111/1754-9485.13883