Radiation Oncology
Treating cancer with targeted radiation, combining physics and oncology in a small, clinic-based specialty with long patient relationships.
- Training
- 4 years
- Entry
- Direct from medical school
- Apply through
- ERAS
- Match through
- NRMP Main Match
- Accredited programs
- 86
Among the 31 specialties
What sets Radiation Oncology apart most is first-year resident pay: $73K, higher than every other specialty.
Every rail is one dot per specialty, ordered lowest to highest, so all six read as one profile. Dots stack where specialties share a value. Radiation Oncology’s is the coloured dot — point anywhere along a rail to name the others.
one specialtymiddle halfmedian
- Programs
- Programs: 86. More than 10 of the 31 specialties reporting; fewer than 20. Reported range across specialties: 5 to 820.
- Training length
- Training length: 4 years. Longer than 13 of the 31 specialties reporting; shorter than 9. Reported range across specialties: 2 years to 7 years.
- Interviews per position
- Interviews per position: 4.1×. More than 22 of the 28 specialties reporting; fewer than 5. Reported range across specialties: 1.0× to 5.0×.
- Residents in training
- Residents in training: 788. More than 8 of the 30 specialties reporting; fewer than 21. Reported range across specialties: 99 to 40,131.
- States and territories
- States and territories: 37. More than 9 of the 31 specialties reporting; fewer than 21. Reported range across specialties: 4 to 52.
- First-year resident pay
- First-year resident pay: $73K. Higher than 27 of the 28 specialties reporting; lower than 0. Reported range across specialties: $60K to $73K.
Programs ranges from 5 to 820 across 31 specialties. The middle half sit between 82 and 210.
Training length ranges from 2 years to 7 years across 31 specialties. The middle half sit between 3 years and 5 years.
Interviews per position ranges from 1.0× to 5.0× across 28 specialties. The middle half sit between 2.7× and 3.5×.
Residents in training ranges from 99 to 40,131 across 30 specialties. The middle half sit between 718 and 6,616.
States and territories ranges from 4 to 52 across 31 specialties. The middle half sit between 35 and 46.
First-year resident pay ranges from $60K to $73K across 28 specialties. The middle half sit between $67K and $69K.
Every accredited program
Grouped by state, alphabetical within each. We don’t rank programs. Open any row for its deadlines, salary, visas, and reported outcomes.
86 across 37 states
Alabama1
Arizona2
Arkansas1
California11
Colorado1
Connecticut1
District of Columbia1
Florida4
Georgia1
Illinois4
Indiana1
Iowa1
Kansas1
Kentucky2
Maryland2
Massachusetts2
Michigan4
Minnesota2
Mississippi1
Missouri1
Nebraska1
New Hampshire1
New Jersey1
New York12
North Carolina3
Ohio4
Oklahoma1
Oregon1
Pennsylvania5
South Carolina1
Tennessee1
Texas5
Utah1
Virginia1
Washington1
West Virginia1
Wisconsin2
What the sources report
Published by the bodies that collect them. Each figure carries the year it describes, which is not always the year it was published.
Most recent reported
- Required prior post-graduate clinical educationResidents entering ACGME-accredited Radiation Oncology training
- 12monthsACGME, Requirements effective 2026-07-01
- Required Radiation Oncology residency lengthACGME-accredited Radiation Oncology residency programs
- 48monthsACGME, Requirements effective 2026-07-01
- MyERAS program signalsRadiation Oncology applicants in the 2027 MyERAS application season
- 4signalsAAMC, 2027 MyERAS season
- ERAS status Not ParticipatingPrograms on the official AAMC ERAS 2027 Radiation Oncology page
- 2programsAAMC, 2027 ERAS season
- ERAS status ParticipatingPrograms on the official AAMC ERAS 2027 Radiation Oncology page
- 59programsAAMC, 2027 ERAS season
- ERAS status UnregisteredPrograms on the official AAMC ERAS 2027 Radiation Oncology page
- 25programsAAMC, 2027 ERAS season
- ACGME accredited program countAll programs on the official current ACGME Radiation Oncology roster
- 86programsACGME, 2026-2027
- Categorical Radiation Oncology tracksRadiation Oncology categorical tracks
- 8tracksNRMP, 2026-2027
- NRMP live directory track countRadiation Oncology tracks linked to the current ACGME roster
- 108tracksNRMP, 2026-2027
- Programs with Continued Accreditation with WarningCurrent programs on the official 2026-2027 ACGME Radiation Oncology roster
- 2programsACGME, 2026-2027
- Average ranked applicants needed to fill each PGY-1 positionRadiation Oncology PGY-1 programs that filled all positions
- 10.6ranked applicants per positionNRMP, 2026 Main Residency Match
- Average ranked applicants needed to fill each PGY-2 positionRadiation Oncology advanced PGY-2 programs that filled all positions
- 7.1ranked applicants per positionNRMP, 2026 Main Residency Match
- NRMP PGY-1 positions offeredRadiation Oncology PGY-1 positions in the 2026 Main Residency Match
- 12positionsNRMP, 2026 Main Residency Match
- NRMP PGY-1 program-type participationsRadiation Oncology PGY-1 entries in the 2026 Main Residency Match
- 6program-type rowsNRMP, 2026 Main Residency Match
- NRMP PGY-2 positions offeredRadiation Oncology advanced PGY-2 positions in the 2026 Main Residency Match
- 171positionsNRMP, 2026 Main Residency Match
- NRMP PGY-2 program-type participationsRadiation Oncology advanced PGY-2 entries in the 2026 Main Residency Match
- 79program-type rowsNRMP, 2026 Main Residency Match
- NRMP Physician (R) positions offeredRadiation Oncology Physician (R) positions in the 2026 Main Residency Match
- 4positionsNRMP, 2026 Main Residency Match
- NRMP Physician (R) program-type participationsRadiation Oncology Physician (R) entries in the 2026 Main Residency Match
- 4program-type rowsNRMP, 2026 Main Residency Match
- Matched U.S. MD senior sample sizeConsenting U.S. MD seniors in the 2024 Main Residency Match who matched Radiation Oncology
- 103applicantsNRMP, 2024 Main Residency Match
- Mean abstracts, presentations, and publications - matched U.S. MD seniorsConsenting matched U.S. MD seniors applying to Radiation Oncology
- 15.9itemsNRMP, 2024 Main Residency Match
- Mean abstracts, presentations, and publications - unmatched U.S. MD seniorsConsenting unmatched U.S. MD seniors applying to Radiation Oncology
- 13.5itemsNRMP, 2024 Main Residency Match
- Mean contiguous Radiation Oncology ranks - matched U.S. MD seniorsConsenting matched U.S. MD seniors applying to Radiation Oncology
- 16.1ranksNRMP, 2024 Main Residency Match
- Mean contiguous Radiation Oncology ranks - unmatched U.S. MD seniorsConsenting unmatched U.S. MD seniors applying to Radiation Oncology
- 1.3ranksNRMP, 2024 Main Residency Match
- Mean research experiences - matched U.S. MD seniorsConsenting matched U.S. MD seniors applying to Radiation Oncology
- 4.2experiencesNRMP, 2024 Main Residency Match
- Mean research experiences - unmatched U.S. MD seniorsConsenting unmatched U.S. MD seniors applying to Radiation Oncology
- 2experiencesNRMP, 2024 Main Residency Match
- Mean USMLE Step 2 CK score - matched U.S. MD seniorsConsenting matched U.S. MD seniors applying to Radiation Oncology
- 252pointsNRMP, 2024 Main Residency Match
- Mean USMLE Step 2 CK score - unmatched U.S. MD seniorsConsenting unmatched U.S. MD seniors applying to Radiation Oncology
- 242pointsNRMP, 2024 Main Residency Match
- Unmatched U.S. MD senior sample sizeConsenting U.S. MD seniors in the 2024 Main Residency Match who did not match Radiation Oncology
- 3applicantsNRMP, 2024 Main Residency Match
- Average annual vacationRadiation Oncology programs represented by FREIDA
- 19daysfreida.ama-assn.org, 2024 academic year
- Average PGY-1 salaryRadiation Oncology programs represented by FREIDA
- 71,760.07USDfreida.ama-assn.org, 2024 academic year
- Average weekly duty hoursRadiation Oncology programs represented by FREIDA
- 50hours per weekfreida.ama-assn.org, 2024 academic year
- FREIDA accredited program countRadiation Oncology programs represented by FREIDA for the 2024 academic year
- 89programsfreida.ama-assn.org, 2024 academic year
- Programs requiring USMLE Step 1Radiation Oncology programs represented by FREIDA
- 56%freida.ama-assn.org, 2024 academic year
- Total active Radiation Oncology residentsProgram-reported Radiation Oncology residents represented by FREIDA
- 715residentsfreida.ama-assn.org, 2024 academic year
Specialties that measure like this one
Nearest on the six measures above — length, competitiveness, scale, geography, pay. Not a claim that the work is similar, and not a recommendation.
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- Internal Medicine-PediatricsFour years to full board eligibility in both adult and pediatric medicine, built for care that does not stop at the transition to adulthood.
- OphthalmologyHigh-volume microsurgery and clinic in roughly equal measure, matched a year early through SF Match rather than the NRMP.
How each measure is made
- Training length
- How many years the accredited residency itself runs. Specialties you enter at PGY-2 need a separately matched preliminary or transitional year before this clock starts, and any fellowship comes after it.Accredited length across programs in this specialty. A few specialties run both lengths — Emergency Medicine has three-year and four-year programs — and are shown as a range.
- Residents in training
- How many residents the specialty holds at once, counting every training year at every program. It is a measure of the field’s size rather than of its annual intake — divide by the training length for a rough sense of how many start each year.Total approved positions across all training years, summed across programs.
- Programs
- How many separately accredited residency programs the specialty has. Each one is its own application, its own interview, and its own line on your rank list.Accredited programs currently published in our directory.
- States and territories
- How many states and territories have at least one program. This is the geography question: a specialty with 400 programs across 20 states is far more concentrated than one with 100 spread across 45.Distinct states with at least one published program.
- First-year resident pay
- What you are paid during your first year of training, before any of it becomes an attending salary. The spread across specialties is narrow — this is not the number that separates them.Median PGY-1 stipend across programs — what you are paid during residency, not what the specialty earns afterwards.
- Interviews per position
- How many applicants a program interviews for each position it offers — at 4×, a program with ten spots interviews about forty people. It is a read on how far the field narrows at the interview stage, not on how many applied.Median interviews a program conducts for each position it offers.