Same College, same generic gates as radiology (two full postgraduate years by commencement, general registration, a CRVN — but a separate $800 CRVN for this faculty, and four non-consecutive attempts), but every jurisdi…
Typical start years; people vary by a year or two. Diamonds are exams. Stage list and sources in the pathway tab.
Community view is that entry is easier than radiology; the counterweight is absolute scarcity of posts and a thin public consultant market. Ratings are the encoder's 1–5 call from college numbers and r/ausjdocs; applicant-to-place ratios double-count people who apply in several states. Evidence rows are in getting selected.
tion advertises externally; there is no College-run Victorian process. VIC/TAS recruit through VICTRANET with one centralised application for six hospitals. The intake is tiny — Australian-only frequently 15-25 a year, several states taking 0-2 — so entry is easier than radiology on ratio but a bad year in your state can mean no post at all, and the public consultant job market is thin.
Rad onc has very poor job prospects. Do radiology.
I believe the earliest to apply is for PGY3. There are two sets of exams, the first set of which are written and testing physics, radio biology and anatomy, and the second set both written and oral testing pathology, radiation therapy and clinical oncology.
I am not a Radiation Oncologist but I have worked closely with them. A couple of points: - Metropolitan RO vacancies are basically zero. Any vacancies that come up tend to be earmarked for trainees/graduates from that particular hospital and may be planned years in advance.
I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t gotten on. Not competitive as a specialty.
All 31 curated quotes by topic, trajectories and threads.
ranzcr.com for the facts and summary, read 12 Sept 2026 · rating and pathway encoded by hand from the same sources · quotes are verbatim r/ausjdocs comments, community view not policy
Term advice: nothing encoded yet — not published.
Stages: ranzcr.com, alfredhealth.org.au, data.gov.au · terms: r/ausjdocs term-strategy collection, counted by distinct author, community view not policy
"Mandatory" is the college's word. Amber "community" rows are what the sub says panels actually want.
Domain wording is from the clinical radiology guide, which names radiation oncology department experience; the RO-specific guide was not retrieved.
NSW/ACT recruit in the NSW main-round window.
QLD window 1 Jun 9am to 29 Jun 3pm AEST — the same month as VICTRANET. Radiation Oncology PHO is the feeder title.
Not listed on the College's 2026/27 table at retrieval.
SA/NT dates absent from the College table.
VICTRANET — Alfred Health, Austin Health, Barwon Health, Launceston General Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Hobart Hospital — recruits through 'a centralised application and interview process'; watch the RANZCR site for ads in June/July. One application covers six hospitals across two states.
Applications via medcareerswa. GenesisCare (Murdoch) advertises an Unaccredited Radiation Oncology Registrar on Workday.
Dates drift a week or two each year; the calendar has confirmed vs expected windows.
Selection delegated to jurisdictions; weights not published. Shortlisting on CV against the 2026 Radiation Oncology CV Scoring Guide plus jurisdictional requirements; standardised interview questions per jurisdiction.
Requirements and rubric: ranzcr.com · state mechanics: ranzcr.com, alfredhealth.org.au · community rows from r/ausjdocs
Hollow dots are hearsay — the poster was not citing a figure. A bar spans the components or years quoted; hover for the exact words.
"Cost to get on" is a name-based pick of the one-off fees paid before or at selection. The college schedule is a lifetime-of-training list at each item's own year, not one bill; community amounts overlap it and are never summed. Courses, travel and repeat sittings are the part the sub complains about.
Exams and fees: ranzcr.com, medicalboard.gov.au · claims, prep and costs quoted: r/ausjdocs exams-and-costs collection, community view not policy · paid prep products need three independent non-suspect authors and a free alternative to appear
Scored by the Radiation oncology rules — whether or not the title names the specialty — highest first, closing soonest next.
"Has anyone heard back?" reports on r/ausjdocs, 2024–2026 folded onto one calendar year; dashed line is the official date for the 2027 intake where published.
5 dated reports, weekly bins
5 dated reports, weekly bins
Jobs: last night's scrape, scored by hand-written rules (no AI) · units and offer reports: r/ausjdocs, counted by distinct author · campaign windows: canberrahealthservices.act.gov.au, health.nsw.gov.au, healthjobs.nt.gov.au +4
Verbatim, one caution beside one encouragement per topic where both exist, the rest folded. Every quote links to the comment.
Rad onc has very poor job prospects. Do radiology.
Hi Rad Onc Consultant here. You sound like someone ideal for this specialty so I’d stick just with plan A! It’s true that I’m very happy in my work life and working with cancer patients is so rewarding as we often are providing curative treatments or helping with symptoms and quality of life.
I am not a Radiation Oncologist but I have worked closely with them. A couple of points: - Metropolitan RO vacancies are basically zero. Any vacancies that come up tend to be earmarked for trainees/graduates from that particular hospital and may be planned years in advance.
Sydney-based Rad Onc here: In the short term, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a fellowship position with one of the public departments. We are always short of candidates.
In a similar boat. Very interested in the field but also very wary about AI in the future. I attended one of the ASMs last year, and it was a little depressing.
Nope. As long as you email the HoD by mid December you would likely get a job at RPA or POW.
I'm a radiology trainee who've worked a radonc RMO job before applying (I just thought it would be an interesting rotation but didn't do it for radiology application.
Anecdotally I’ve been told by a non rad onc consultant (who had previously done a rad onc PHO role) that the job market for consultants is poor and that they need to just stop training them for a few years.
I'll put it this way. It's a specialty tied to a several million dollar machine of which there are not very many in each state, and every time they look into how much radiation they need it turns out it's not as much as they thought so they're slowly researching themselves out of a job.
Since no one else seems to be in rad onc in Melbourne, I'll chime in. Full time public metro jobs are in high demand and would be difficult to get unless you are highly qualified or highly subspecialised and get very lucky that somewhere has a specific opening.
For specialist recignition you will require an assessment by RANZCR for eligibility, which at present costs $10,000 😱 This includes assessment of all your qualifications and following this an interview.
Program is hard to get onto and will require SRMO/unaccredited or whatever you call it. Weeks are very chill, office hours, clinic, planning treatment.
I believe the earliest to apply is for PGY3. There are two sets of exams, the first set of which are written and testing physics, radio biology and anatomy, and the second set both written and oral testing pathology, radiation therapy and clinical oncology.
I did a radiation oncology term at a tertiary hospital in NSW in residency so I can answer some of those questions. 1. The trainees that started more recently had done 1 unaccredited registrar year then got on the program.
Current NSW trainee in a metro hospital. In my batch of trainees - none have got on without a unaccredited year. Junior trainees similar.
There is only one training network for Victoria and Tasmania, which is VICTRANET - you apply centrally around two months ago every year. The selection panel includes directors of training from every training site in vic/Tas and then if you get on you get allocated rotations anywhere.
Yes, trainees have previously done one year and now several unaccredited years. Historically it wasn't needed but selection is merit based and RONC has gotten quite competitive over the past few years.
Hey, sorry things are shit for ICU rn. I looked into the same paths as you. Rad Onc is quite competitive to get on and you really need a “in”, know the right people etc and I think back in the day application was by invitation only.
Not a rad Onc, but med Onc so their patients are often admitted under us (sigh) and I work closely with them. The remuneration and job opportunities perhaps not as good as a decade ago but I think it’s still a great specialty and there are plenty of med oncs who in retrospect wish they went down the radiation pathway.
I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t gotten on. Not competitive as a specialty.
Getting more competitive. No research / no unaccredited year = not getting on. At least in NSW. 4. AI takeover - probably not. We already use AI for contouring, but they are based on normal anatomy.
I used to be a RONC reg and switched to radiology after an early mid life crisis (quarter life crisis?), anyway: Rad Onc is a small niche, so small that most RMOs don't even consider it.
Rad onc here in Victoria. Fantastic job and is competitive. Find local rad oncs and offer to do a project- that’ll raise your profile. Happy to chat offline.
Very competitive at present. You need to have good experience, good references, a good CV and be happy to move interstate. 4. Risk lower, as we are more patient facing, however we can (and already do) use AI to help with some of the more tedious tasks when it comes to creating treatment plans, and there will be AI…
The majority of newer rad oncs and trainees started doing another specialty before they decided to do it. What do you do if you don’t get onto a surgical program and/or BPT?
Which state are you in? In QLD rad onc training you have to move hospitals every year and do 1-2years regional (Townsville/cairns/ Toowoomba) so if you’re after flexibility / stability in location GP will be a better fit you don’t want to spend next 5+ years moving with young family.
Rad onc here. It’s a great job. Reasonable work life balance compared to haem/med onc. You have to want to do it as there are many tough cases. The private companies are pretty mercenary.
Radiation oncologist in Sydney. $2m
Great career that not many know about. Closest to a mix between radiology and a “surgical” specialty, but instead of surgery you’re doing radiotherapy planning, which can be done anywhere, anytime, remotely with a computer.
I worked there in 2024 - awful time. Would not recommend. There were 4 unaccredited registrars who started and all 4 had resigned at around 3/4 of the way through the clinical year.
The accreditted interviews concluded today. If you havent secured a job I'd suggest keeping an eye out for later rounds of unaccredited spots, some repeat later in the year due to people moving etc.
r/ausjdocs comments and posts, hand-curated from the cross-cutting, radiology collections; scores as at the dump · community view, not policy
Knowledge rows last loaded 13 Sept 2026, encoded by hand from the sources linked on each panel; no AI wrote any of it. Compare specialties · calendar · all guides.