SURVEY OF PHYSICIANS ATTITUDES RELATIVE TO THE FIELD OF SURGICAL ONCOLOGY

Background: Surgical oncology as a distinct field of expertise is fair ly young. The current study was designed to gain a better understandin g of the attitude of practicing physicians toward the field of surgica l oncology. Methods: Three hundred twenty-seven physicians in the San Gabriel Valley (a suburban area adjacent to Los Angeles) responded to an anonymous survey of opinions regarding surgical oncology. Responses were placed into a computerized database. Results: Of those respondin g, 179 were primary care physicians, 52 were general surgeons, 78 were gynecologists, and 18 were medical oncologists. Overall, 89% of physi cians were familiar with the field of surgical oncology, but only 47% had ever heard of The Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO). Ninety-four percent of the respondents felt that a surgical oncologist should care for patients with complex cancer, and 63% of respondents felt that su rgical oncologists should care only for patients with complex cancer. Familiarity with the field of surgical oncology and with the SSO corre lated with the percentage of the physicians practice that was cancer r elated. Only 22% of physicians felt that the field of surgical oncolog y is redundant to the general surgical specialties. Conclusions: Resul ts of the survey indicate that there is considerable recognition of th e unique expertise of the surgical oncologist by the medical community . Unfortunately, many physicians are not familiar with the SSO. Educat ing physicians in the community about the SSO may help to further expa nd the role of the surgical oncologist in the care of the patient with cancer, standardize the expectations of the skills and training of a surgical oncologist, and set a benchmark for the surgical subspecialty .