{"entity":{"id":"oncology-workforce","kind":"term","name":"Oncology workforce","aka":[],"tldr":"There are not enough oncologists, radiation therapists, pathologists, oncology nurses and pharmacists for the growing number of patients, in rich countries and especially in poor ones; burnout, geography and training pipelines shape who receives care.","summary":"ASCO projected a shortage of ~2,200 US oncologists by 2025 as demand grows ~40% with ageing and survivorship while supply grows ~25%; ~20% of Americans live in rural areas with <7% of oncologists (ASCO State of the Oncology Workforce). Burnout affects 45-60% of oncologists. Globally, many LMICs have fewer than one oncologist per million people; radiation oncology, medical physics, pathology (≤1 pathologist per million in parts of Africa) and oncology nursing are the scarcest. Responses: advanced practice providers, team-based care, telehealth, task-shifting to nurses and general physicians with protocols, international training partnerships (AORTIC, ASCO International, IAEA), AI-assisted pathology and radiotherapy planning, and retention strategies. The workforce is a rate-limiting factor for every advance listed in this graph.","asOf":"2026-09-08","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncology","links":[{"label":"ASCO State of the Oncology Workforce","url":"https://www.asco.org/news-initiatives/current-initiatives/cancer-care-initiatives/oncology-workforce-information"},{"label":"Lancet Oncology Commission: pathology and lab medicine (2018)","url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30458-6"}],"tags":["gap-fill","policy"],"related":["oncology-nursing","telehealth-oncology","global-oncology-access","digital-pathology-ai","radiology-ai-screening"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["cancer-health-disparities"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-wilson-lancet"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Regulation & policy"},"route":"/terms/oncology-workforce/","neighbours":{"technology":[{"id":"radiology-ai-screening","kind":"technology","name":"AI in radiology","route":"/technologies/radiology-ai-screening/"},{"id":"digital-pathology-ai","kind":"technology","name":"Digital pathology & AI","route":"/technologies/digital-pathology-ai/"},{"id":"global-oncology-access","kind":"technology","name":"Global oncology and access in low- and middle-income countries","route":"/technologies/global-oncology-access/"},{"id":"oncology-nursing","kind":"technology","name":"Oncology nursing and nurse-led care","route":"/technologies/oncology-nursing/"},{"id":"telehealth-oncology","kind":"technology","name":"Telehealth and hospital-at-home in oncology","route":"/technologies/telehealth-oncology/"}],"term":[{"id":"cancer-health-disparities","kind":"term","name":"Cancer health disparities and equity","route":"/terms/cancer-health-disparities/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-wilson-lancet","kind":"paper","name":"Access to pathology and laboratory medicine services: a crucial gap","route":"/key-papers/paper-wilson-lancet/"}]}}