Mentoring medical students in radiation oncology

Mentoring in academic medicine has been described on a multitude of levels in medical literature, but seldom with respect to medical students. In fact, although some fields have addressed mentoring in the context of medical student education, radiation oncology has yet to do so in a comprehensive fashion. Furthermore, the projected domestic and worldwide epidemiologic trends in cancer cases, coupled with the frequent use of radiation-based cancer treatment regimens, make this an opportune moment to initiate such a discussion. Herein, the authors consider mentoring in the context of radiation oncology and related fields from the perspective of a medical student. They present a paradigm for promoting mentorship through traditional classroom-based and nontraditional socially and research-based initiatives. It is the authors' hope that both radiation oncology and other specialties will benefit from the initiation of this discussion, as well as build on the suggestions detailed here as we prepare the next generation of radiation oncologists.