In Regard to Odei et al.

To the Editor:

We thank Odei et al for highlighting the challenges of the upcoming residency match given coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions on away rotations and in-person residency interviews. This is a timely issue for our specialty, given declining numbers of applicants in recent years. We have launched several initiatives for medical students to mitigate COVID-19’s detrimental impact to learning and recruitment to radiation oncology.

On April 27, 2020, Oregon Health & Sciences University and Stanford both launched virtual clerkships allowing us to engage students interested in learning about radiation oncology during the pandemic. , We were encouraged to see Odei et al report that almost half of the 65 responding residency programs planned or were exploring virtual clerkships at the time of the survey. For programs unable to set up virtual clerkships, virtual meet-and-greets can serve as an alternative way for students to connect with programs. Students can meet with residents and faculty during Zoom sessions to learn more about a program. However, this experience cannot substitute for those components of a clerkship such as working alongside faculty and residents, obtaining feedback and recommendation letters, and establishing mentorship relationships.

Oregon Health & Sciences University and Stanford also set up the Radiation Oncology Virtual Education Rotation (ROVER), a series of virtual educational panels with case-based discussions across disease sites tailored to medical students. ROVER aimed to facilitate exposure to radiation oncology and faculty from different programs around the country while away rotations were on hold. This series was advertised on social media, which allowed us to effectively reach many physicians-in-training about radiation oncology. The tweets on Twitter advertising our 6 ROVER sessions generated over a total of 292 “likes” and 138 retweets. The ROVER website similarly has had over 5700 unique visitors since May 25, 2020.

We held a ROVER networking session on September 10, 2020 about applying to radiation oncology in the current environment. This networking session allowed faculty and residents from programs around the country to discuss concerns about applying to radiation oncology with students in smaller breakout rooms. Of the students registered for the event, over a third reported not having a home radiation oncology program.

Although COVID-19 has introduced new challenges to our field, social media and virtual educational tools provide opportunities to augment radiation oncology education going forward. We welcome continued collaborative efforts on these innovative strategies to educate and recruit a talented and diverse workforce.