Clinical oncology careers – projects

Recruiting tomorrow’s clinical oncologists today

In 2026, we are running a project which is aimed at Recruiting tomorrow’s clinical oncologists today.

The problem

Clinical oncology remains a specialty with limited exposure for many Foundation Doctors, particularly in hospitals without radiotherapy services, and this lack of visibility inevitably affects career awareness and recruitment.

The specialty offers a unique combination of patient-centred care, advanced technology, systemic therapies and radiotherapy, yet many Foundation Doctors have little or no opportunity to experience this during their training.

Clinical oncology workforce challenges are very significant

The projected workforce shortfalls across the Midlands further emphasise the importance of engaging potential future trainees at an early stage. 

• The Midlands as a whole is very fragile in terms of the clinical oncology workforce: there is 28% forecast shortfall for clinical oncology consultants across the Midlands by 2029
• The competition ratio for clinical oncology ST3 in 2025 was only 2.63
• The previous year, our fill rate was only 5% in the West Midlands!

Moreover, it is important to note: only 6 out of 15 acute hospital NHS Trusts in the West Midlands offer exposure to Foundation doctors at all. We know that a lack of exposure correlates in a lack of applications for clinical oncology training posts. There are only 5 out of the 8 hospitals in the East Midlands.

What we are doing about it

We are currently raising awareness of careers in clinical oncology amongst F1 and F2 doctors. We are providing information that addresses identified barriers and incentives for foundation doctors when considering clinical oncology as option, with the hope of influencing people’s thinking and interest in clinical oncology as a career choice.

Key barriers include a lack of knowledge/awareness of clinical oncology and a lack of opportunities to find out more via taster sessions, shadowing etc.

On top of that, there are a number of myths that prevail, and a number of ‘best kept secrets’ that we hope to address.

We are also pioneering new ways and platforms to disseminate this information, using social media and peers to spread the word. Our approach includes:

• Appointing a Foundation Doctor who is also social media influencer to promote the career in new, innovative and engaging ways that appeal to our Foundation Doctor target audience
• Recruiting clinical oncology champions (working as SpRs or newly appointed consultants) as ambassadors for the speciality
• Organising free professional networking events which invite F1s and F2s to “Look at Life in clinical oncology” (both in person and on-line)
• Ensuring that the Midlands is promoted as a destination which offers other life benefits beyond work

The Royal College of Radiologists has indicated their support and interest in this project.

Clinical oncology project 2024-25

During 2024-25, we had a project led by a Workforce Fellow looking to promote Clinical Oncology as a career to trainee doctors, and to encourage trainees to work in the West Midlands.

One of the outputs of this project was to develop a suite of videos for trainees who might be considering Clinical Oncology and working in the West Midlands.

We hope they encourage people, provide further information on what it’s really like, and bust any myths that might be out there. They answer a number of key questions which people might be asking:

• Why choose a career within Clinical Oncology?
• What should I do if I’m considering a career within Clinical Oncology?
• Why choose the West Midlands?
• What training is available within the West Midlands?
• What are the exams like?

For the full suite of videos please click on the picture below (on the right hand side) to take you to the full video library. Below on the left hand side, you can see a short ‘teaser’ video.

In 2026-27, we are undertaking a digital careers promotion project, aimed at raising awareness of clinical oncology careers amongst F1 and F2 doctors. This is using the insight gathered previously.