Residency question for Steph, or anybody else.

[DBrasco]

Steph, I hope it's too bold of me to ask but is a Radiation/Oncology residency program extremely competitive to get into? The reason I ask is I'm very interested in persuing Diagnostic radialogy, which I've heard is also very competitive. So with that said what kind of scores/class percentiles/grades would I be expected to attain to have a decent shot at a competitive US Residency?

[stephew]

Steph, I hope it's too bold of me to ask but is a Radiation/Oncology residency program extremely competitive to get into? The reason I ask is I'm very interested in persuing Diagnostic radialogy, which I've heard is also very competitive. So with that said what kind of scores/class percentiles/grades would I be expected to attain to have a decent shot at a competitive US Residency?
unfortunatley for many it is; its one of the most competitive fields right now. Diagnostics is easier. But radonc and Diagnostic rad are two very different programs so if youre interested in diagnostic, that's really a separete questions and im not the best to answer it. The "rad" part in both seems to confuse many into thinking they're more connected than they actually are at this point (historically they were). Its competitive but not nearly as much as radonc. Id check studentdoctor.net which has forums on both these fields (I do the radonc one btw).
anyway up till june of this year there were 5 sgu folksin radonc. I and a friend just finished.

[helpfulgrad]

hi...
diagnostic radiology is vastly difference from rad onc despite them sounding related. Both programs are competitive and moreso for FMG's.
do some research of your own by calling around to programs and asking about minimum scores etc. Also check out program websites as this kind of information is usually posted.
regarding scores, my research on rad onc (via freida etc) has shown that there are about 78 programs in the nation. By visiting some of the programs' websites i've seen pd's state that they won't interview anyone with less than 225 on step I.
diagnostic radiology has better odds - i.e more training programs as well as lower cut off scores for being interviewed.

take home message: both are difficult, but work/study hard, do well on your boards and take a shot at whatever field you want to pursue. You never know without trying!

good luck
HG