Analysis of Medical Personnel
Educational And Employment
Opportunities in Medical Oncology

The Washington State Medical Oncology Society (WSMOS) was awarded a 2008 grant from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) to evaluate how medical oncology practices across the state employ medical staff and to provide a matrix of nursing education institutions and of oncology practices interested in providing training for ARNPs, PAs, RNs, LPNs, and MAs. This brochure summarizes the results of the survey. The greater than 50% survey participation indicates a high level of interest in developing more educational opportunities for oncology education for students at all levels. Twenty-five (25) of 49 medical oncology practices and 17 of 33 nursing educations programs which were contacted completed the survey. View or download PDF version of brochure

The profile of educational institutions provides information of the type and number of graduates, their history of placement of students, and their universal willingness to work with practices to create more educational opportunities in oncology. Appropriate contact information is provided in Chart 2.

An analysis of how ARNPs, PAs, RNs, LPNs, and MAs are employed in practices and of the various opportunities in back office, infusion centers, and research programs is presented following the practice and teaching institution profiles. This includes a profile of the different functions ARNPs and PAs play in medical oncology practices.

Our intent is to expand this compendium over time so that it encompasses all oncology practices and educational institutions. Enhanced interaction between practices and educators should lead to increasing the pool of trained oncology personnel to help alleviate the predicted shortfall in staffing in the coming years. Practices and educational institutions wishing to update their data or join the survey can access the survey at our website (www.wsmos.org).

We hope that this information is helpful to you and welcome your feedback. Please email any comments or questions to wsmos@comcast.net.

In addition to the survey data on educational experiences in oncology, the WSMOS/ASCO grant survey obtained profiles of employment of medical staff in Washington oncology practices. These practices employed 145 medical oncologists in private practice and 78 in the academic setting.

The employment of mid-level providers was common across the board with ARNPs employed by 5/7 multispecialty clinics, 4/ 8 single specialty clinics, 3/ 6 hospital-based practices, and in all 4 sections of the academic practice. The employment of PAs was similarly distributed for multispecialty practices (5/7), single specialty practices (5/8), and the academic center (4/4). However, no hospital based practice employed PAs. Graph 1 shows the employment of all staff in the surveyed practices.

Twenty-one (21) of 24 respondents have research activities. Oncology practices predominantly employ RNs in research activities, although 1 multispecialty and 1 single specialty practice employed LPNs for all of these functions. Graph 3.

All practices had some experience offering educational opportunities for medical personnel. Five (5) of 25 practices had trained ARNPs: 1/7 multispecialty clinics, 1/8 single specialty clinics, and 3/6 hospital based practices. Only 3 practices had trained PAs: 1 each inmultispecialty, single specialty and hospital-based practices. One third of practices (8/25) had trained RN’s including 2/7 multispecialty clinics, 2/8 single specialty clinics, 3/6 hospital based clinics and 1/4 of the academic units. Only 2/7 multispecialty and 2/6 hospital-based practices had trained LPNs. The majority of practices had offered MA training: 5/7 multispecialty, 6/8 single specialty, and 2/6 hospital-based practices. Graph 4 shows the aggregate of practices’ interest in educating medical personnel.

All practices expressed interest in expanding their educational offerings. Thirteen (13) welcomed ARNP students: 2/7 multispecialty, 4/8 single specialty, 4/6 hospital based, and 3/4 academic units. Only 11 practices expressed an interest in training PAs: 3/7 multispecialty, 3/8 single-specialty, 2/6 hospital based, and 3/4 of the academic units. The majority of practices (17/25) indicated an interest in training RNs: 4/7 multispecialty, 5/8 single specialty, 5/6 hospital and 3/4 of the academic units. LPN training opportunities exist in 7/25 practices: 1/7 multispecialty, 3/8 single specialty, 2/6 hospital based, and 1/4 of the academic units. MA externships were offered by 14/25 practices: 4/7 multispecialty, 6/8 single specialty, and 4/6 hospital based practices.

Fourteen 14 practices commented on their experiences training medical personnel. Of these 13 expressed great satisfaction with their experience and felt that it aided them in recruiting staff.

The 17 responding educational institutions graduate 10 ARNPs, 1021 RNs, 280 LPNs, and 120 MAs annually. There were no PAs trained in these programs. ARNPs had externships in academic and other settings. Opportunities for RN externships were offered in 1 academic setting, 14 hospital programs, 4 community practices, and 2 other settings. LPNs externships occurred in 1 academic program, 5 hospital programs, and 1 other setting. MA externships were available in 1 academic setting, 2 hospital programs, 2 community practices and 1 other setting. All programs expressed interest in investigating new venues for their students.

Washington State Medical Oncology Society Officers President Jeffery C. Ward MD Past President Richard A. McGee MD President-Elect Vincent Picozzi MD Treasurer John A Thompson MD Board Members Thomas E.Boyd MD Jonathan C. Britell MD James Congdon DO Vicky E. Jones MD Brian K. Kim MD Kenneth G. Kraemer MD Howard (Jack) West MD Robert Witham MD Executive Director Risë Cleland Administrative Assistant Liz Cleland Carrier Advisory Committee Reps Jeffery C. Ward MD Richard A. McGee MD