title: Ontario radiation oncology residents' needs in the first postgraduate year-residents' perspective survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess radiation oncology residents' needs and satisfaction in their first postgraduate year (PGY-1) in the province of Ontario.
  
  
  METHODS
  Of 62 radiation oncology residents, 58 who had completed their PGY-1 and were either enrolled or had graduated in 2006 were invited to participate in a 31-item survey. The questionnaire explored PGY-1 residents' needs and satisfaction in four domains: clinical workload, faculty/learning environment, stress level, and discrimination/harassment. The Fisher's exact and Wilcoxon nonparametric tests were used to determine relationships between covariate items and summary scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 58 eligible residents, 44 (75%) responded. Eighty-four percent of residents felt that their ward and call duties were appropriate. More than 50% of respondents indicated that they often felt isolated from their radiation oncology program. Only 77% agreed that they received adequate feedback, and 40% received sufficient counseling regarding career planning. More than 93% of respondents thought that faculty members had contributed significantly to their learning experience. Approximately 50% of residents experienced excessive stress and inadequate time for leisure or for reading the medical literature. Less than 10% of residents indicated that they had been harassed or experienced discrimination. Eighty-three percent agreed or strongly agreed that their PGY-1 experience had been outstanding.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most Ontario residents were satisfied with their PGY-1 training program. More counseling by radiation oncology faculty members should be offered to help residents with career planning. The residents might also benefit from more exposure to "radiation oncology" and an introduction to stress management strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Toronto Regional Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Ewa.Szumacher@sunnybrook.ca
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Szumacher
authors.forename: Eiran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Warner
authors.forename: Liying
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Gabrielle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ackerman
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nyhof-Young
authors.forename: Olusegun
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Agboola
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Metz
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Sachi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Voruganti
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rappolt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000592:standards; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D015397:Program Evaluation; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires