Background: After receiving worrying signals from its members concerning their workload, the Norwegian Oncology Society decided to review how Norwegian oncologists perceive their working conditions.
Material and methods: A questionnaire was sent to all doctors working in departments of oncology. They were asked to provide background information about themselves, how they experienced the working conditions, and what could be done to improve work satisfaction. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis of results.
Results: 174 of 298 doctors (58 %) answered the questionnaire. The median number of working hours per week was 52 hours for oncologists, and 45 hours for doctors in training. 72 % of oncologists and 56 % of doctors in training stated the workload is so high that it is difficult to complete all tasks. 63 % of oncologists felt that work was so energy-consuming that it affected their private life, 77 % of them were quite dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with time allocated to do research. 54 % of specialists and 72 % of doctors in training were very happy or happy with their job in general. 86 % of specialists and 61 % of doctors in training reported that more positions for oncologists and doctors in training, respectively, would increase their job satisfaction.
Interpretation: Doctors working in the field of oncology in Norway regard the workload to be too high. Oncologists believe that job satisfaction would improve if more time was allocated to research and if there were more positions for doctors at all levels.