Career Advisor's Background and Career Information

Background

Name: David Larson, PhD, MD
Career Advisor for: Radiation Oncology
Title(s): Professor
Best way to contact (e-mail, phone?): (415) 353-8900
Undergraduate & Graduate Degrees/Institutions: B.A. (U.C. Berkeley), Ph.D. (U. Chicago), M.D. (U. Miami School of Medicine)
Clinical Interests/Duties: CNS radiotherapy, Gamma Knife radiosurgery, Cyberknife radiosurgery
Research Interests/Duties: Clinical research, brain tumors

Career Information

1. What can students do in the 1st and 2nd years to explore and/or prepare for this career? Talk with radiation oncology residents, fellow, faculty

2. What common variations exist in the length/content of residency programs for this career? Four year residency program; some variation in research time provided by different programs

3. What common variations exist in this career after training? Private practice versus academics. The former requires expertise in all types of oncologic problems. The latter allows specialization.

4. What is a typical work day for you (or someone else representative)? Typically 8 AM - 6 PM: seeing patients, teaching fellows/resident/students, carrying out admisnistrative durties, but interspersed with several multidisciplinary tumor boards or patient conferences with colleagues.

5. What is the "culture" of this career? Focus, dedication, sensitivity, data-driven. Radiation oncology was one of the first specialties to examine national patterns of cancer care and to develop a strong culture of evidence-based decision making.

6. How compatible is this career with raising a family? How is this different for men and women? Raising a family is often challenging in any medical field; radiation oncology is more compatible with raising a family than those fields which require spending long days and nights or weekends in the hospital.

7. How important, individually, are each the following for admission to a competitive program:

a.Extra-curricular/volunteer work? Favorable
b. Research/publications? Extremely favorable
c. Honors in third year? Favorable
d. AOA? Favorable
e. A sub-internship? Favorable
f. An externship? Favorable
g. (Other important elements to the application?) Very strong letters of recommendation from radiation oncology faculty are extremely important

8. What are the most important qualities or character traits for a person in this field? Strong sense of responsibility, integrity, able to think independently, team player, self-starter

9. How competitive are the residency programs in this field? Extremely competitive, especially in the last 5-10 years

10. How competitive is the job market after residency?

11. What programs would you consider to be in the 1st tier, 2nd tier, and 3rd tier? Talk to me in person; depends on your particular goals and interests

12. What resources (web, books, etc, besides the AMA and AAMC sites) would you recommend for students interested in learning more about this field? Take a stroll through a radiation therapy department anywhere in the U.S.; talk to a few radiation oncologists or trainees