Characterization of Research Mentorship During Medical School for Future Radiation Oncology Trainees

Purpose/Objectives Medical student access to radiation oncology (RO) research opportunities is important for stimulating interest in the specialty. The purpose of this study was to assess the publication record during medical school of students who ultimately matched in RO, to characterize the source(s) of their RO mentorship relative to other specialties. Materials/Methods We performed web-based searches to identify manuscripts published during medical school (defined as being published from January 2016-December 2019) for all RO residents with post-graduate year 2 status in 2020-2021. Students with a PhD degree and international graduates were excluded. Characteristics of these publications, the student, and the primary mentor, were assessed. Results A total of 435 publications were authored by the 148 included residents. 115 (78%) attended a medical school with an affiliated RO residency program. The median number of publications per student was 2 (interquartile range (IQR) 1-4), and students’ median byline author position was 2 (IQR 1-4). 351 publications (80.7%) were on a cancer-related topic, with 234 (53.8%) published in oncology-oriented journal, and 96 (22.0%) published in RO-oriented journals. There were 294 unique mentors, with 70 mentors (24%) on two or more student publications. Most mentors (n=187, 64%) shared the same institution as the student. Mentors were most commonly radiation oncologists/radiation biologists/medical physicists (n=153, 52.6%), surgical subspecialists (n=53, 21%), and medical oncologists (n=18, 6.2%). Students working with primary RO mentors were more likely to publish in an oncology-oriented journal (79.1% vs. 18.2%, p<0.01) or RO-oriented journal (36.2% vs. 2.2%, p<0.01), compared to students working with non-RO mentors, respectively. A higher percentage of publications with RO mentors occurred in the last two years of medical school compared to the first two years (64.0% vs. 40.9%, respectively, p<0.01). Conclusions Approximately one-half of student publications among future RO residents are published in non-oncology journals, and result from mentoring relationships with non-RO physicians.