Oncologist

According to the American Cancer Society, more than half a million Americans die from cancer every year. In fact, cancer accounts for one in nearly four deaths in the United States.

In a way, that makes cancer the country’s most prolific serial killer. And if you’re an Oncologist, that makes you a lifesaving Detective, as it’s your job to find and fight cancerous tumors.

After all, you’re a Doctor who specializes in cancer. Employed by hospitals, clinics, and medical practice groups, you’re paid to diagnose and treat different types of cancer, including lung cancer, throat cancer, breast cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer, and cervical cancer, just to name a few.

You’ll probably have a specialty — Gynecological Oncologists treat cancers that affect the female reproductive system, for instance, while Pediatric Oncologists treat cancers that affect children — and you’ll usually fall into one of the following three categories: Medical Oncologist, Surgical Oncologist, or Radiation Oncologist.

If you’re a Medical Oncologist, you treat cancer with chemotherapy, utilizing strong drugs to kill cancer cells. If you’re a Surgical Oncologist, you surgically remove tumors. And if you’re a Radiation Oncologist, you use high-energy X-rays to destroy cancer cells from the inside. Always, however, your responsibilities include examining patients, evaluating symptoms, screening for and diagnosing cancers, offering prognoses, recommending treatments, prescribing drugs, and administering therapies.

Cancer’s scary. More than a Doctor, therefore, you’re a Tour Guide: In an unknown and dangerous place, you help patients get their bearings, then find their way — safely and successfully — out of the proverbial jungle.