ONOncologist
ON
Career

Oncologist

By the numbers
Typical pay
$265,930 / yr
Education to start
Doctoral or professional degree
Future demand
+2.5% by 2034
People in this job
343K
Figures shown for ·closest of 2 O*NET occupations
The work
A day, hour by hour
07:15
Chart review

Scan overnight labs, vitals, and side-effect flags before rounds begin.

07:45
Inpatient rounds

Walk the ward; check who's responding, who needs a plan change today.

09:15
Tumor board

Surgeons, radiologists, and nurses debate the hardest cases together.

10:30
Clinic — new patients

Read scans and biopsy results; deliver diagnoses and map out what's next.

12:30
Clinic — follow-ups

Assess treatment response; decide whether to push harder or change course.

14:30
Treatment decisions

Weigh clinical trial enrollment versus proven standard therapy for two patients.

15:30
Infusion check-in

Stop by the chemo suite; a new symptom needs ruling out before it worsens.

16:15
Documentation & orders

Write treatment orders, adjust dosing, and close out the day's charts.

17:15
Research & reading

Review a trial protocol and skim one new paper on a patient's cancer type.

Things you do
  • Diagnose cancer by reading scans, biopsies, and lab results.
  • Build a personalized treatment plan for each patient's cancer.
  • Deliver a cancer diagnosis and walk patients through what comes next.
  • Prescribe and oversee chemo, immunotherapy, or targeted drug treatments.
  • Meet weekly with surgeons, radiologists, and nurses to align on patient care.
Decisions you’ll make
  • Is this patient's cancer responding to treatment, or do I need to change course now?
  • Does the benefit of more aggressive treatment outweigh what it'll put this patient through?
  • Is it time to have the conversation about shifting to comfort care?
  • Should I enroll this patient in a clinical trial, or stick with the proven standard?
  • Is this new symptom a side effect I can manage, or a sign something serious is wrong?
Education Pathways · how you get there
100 in 100 went the college route · 0 in 100 found another way in None, typically
Education mapped from O*NET:General Internal Medicine Physicians · 72% related
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