Why should a student consider specialising in oncology?
There are two primary reasons. One, there’s a need for oncologists. The incidence of cancer is rising and the incidence of curable cancers is rising, too. Ten years ago, there were 15 breast cancer cases per one lakh women in metropolitan India. Today, it’s about 30 per lakh. And a 100-per cent increase is expected in the next 10 years. However, compared to the US and UK, the absolute numbers will still be lower in India. The second reason is the short supply of oncologists (in all three branches – medical, surgical and radiation). There’s a larger shortage particularly of surgical oncologists. It’s a tremendous scarcity. India produces about 15 surgical oncologists every year whereas there’s need for at least three times more. The Medical Council of India is soon going to double or triple the student intake but the students will come out about five years later. At our centre, we receive, on average, a minimum of 250 applications for two seats (to be increased to 10 in June) in surgica
