If you are accepted in the post secondary school of your choice, take courses related to the sciences, like biology, chemistry, or anatomy. When graduating from that post secondary school and get your, most likely, Bachelor’s degree; take the MCAT to try to get into Medical School. If you get into medical school, you need to finish four years of medical school and get a doctorate’s degree as an M.D. Then you need to apply for an oncology residency, which might take two through four years to complete. Then you would be able to specialize in medical oncology field. Finally you need to take a medical oncology board exam to become a board certified medical oncologist.
Oncology is the research, treatment, and diagnosis of cancers in the human body. There are seven main fields of oncology: radiation, surgical, medical, and pediatric. Medical oncology is the use of medicines to treat cancer in the body. Surgical oncology surgically removes cancerous tumors from the body. Radiation oncology is the treatment of cancer by using radiation to destroy the cancerous cells. Pediatric oncology is the treatment of cancer in children 18 years of age and younger.
One of the key philosophies of oncology is to prevent or early detect cancer so I can be treated with minimal affects on the patient. Oncologists can work in a number of places including, but not limited to, hospitals, universities, laboratories, and experimental pharmaceutical institutes. Since cancer has no cure and is very deadly, a large portion of the patients that oncologists see are the ones who have been treated successfully to prevent the reemergence of the cancer. Though, if patients are terminal the oncologist spends time with them trying to aid them in their final moments. A day in the life of an oncologist is very dramatic and demanding because of the myriad of people diagnosed with cancer and helping them deal with their cancer in the right ways. Though, it can be very rewarding to see the cancer patients be treated successfully too. Another great aspect of oncology is the salary. The average oncologist makes around 270,000 dollars annually.
As briefly discussed earlier, oncology has a very specific chemistry related background in the field of medical oncology. Medical oncology uses drugs that are chemically created, not herbal, to treat cancer patients. The most common chemical therapy that cancer patients receive is chemotherapy. The word ‘Chemotherapy’ is a compound word of the words ‘chemical’ ‘therapy’. Chemotherapy is related to chemistry because of the drugs used to make it. Chemotherapy uses a drug made of cytotoxic chemicals which destroys cells with a high rate of mitosis because the cancer cells have a high rate of mitosis. But the cytotoxic chemicals also attack the others cells like the hair because of the high rate of mitosis. Because oncology has such a high growth and development rate, new medicines that fight the cancerous cells more affectively are constantly being released. Oncologists need to know about the chemical aspects of the drugs, so they know what course of treatment is the best option with that medicine.
Oncology is a very interesting field with numerous aspects that oncologists need to know to be successful. Though hard at times, oncology can be a highly rewarding medical field because of the bonds you make with patients who survive. Oncology and chemistry can be considered two things that have great chemistry and complement each other.
Bibliography:
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2. "How to Become an Oncologist." EHow. 2008. 16 Nov. 2008 <http://www.ehow.com/how_2057746_become-oncologist.html>.
3. McGuigan, Brendan. "What is Chemotherapy?." Wise Geek. 2003. 28 Nov. 2008 <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-chemotherapy.htm>.
4. "What is Chemotherapy?." BBC News. 30 Jan. 2004. BBC. 22 Nov. 2008 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/medical_notes/3243613.stm>.
5. "Oncology." McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. 10th ed. 2007.