Table 3.

How Physicians Spend Their Time, Mean or % (SE)

	Medical oncologist (n = 111)	Radiation oncologist (n = 66)	Surgeon (n = 171)	All (n = 348)
Mean hours worked in direct patient care***	51.0 (1.6)	41.9 (1.2)	54.8 (1.6)	51.3 (1.0)
Teaching involvement*
0–1 day/month	56.7 (4.8)	68.3 (5.7)	53.9 (3.8)	56.9 (2.7)
2–5 days/month	28.0 (4.3)	18.3 (4.8)	20.4 (3.1)	22.9 (2.3)
6–15 days/month	8.7 (2.6)	5.9 (2.9)	7.4 (2.0)	7.6 (1.4)
>15 days/month	7.6 (2.5)	7.5 (3.3)	18.4 (3.0)	12.7 (1.8)
Average number of minutes scheduled for
Discussion of treatment options***	56.0 (1.9)	59.7 (1.8)	39.6 (1.2)	48.9 (1.1)
Routine follow-up for patient on chemotherapy***	18.3 (0.6)	11.7 (0.6)	14.5 (0.5)	15.4 (0.3)
Routine check-up with a patient after completion of chemotherapy and radiation therapy***	17.3 (0.6)	20.3 (0.8)	14.7 (0.4)	16.5 (0.3)
Medical oncologists only: On average, how frequently per cycle do you schedule routine follow-up visits with breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy?
1	59.1 (4.8)	n/a	n/a	n/a
2	22.3 (4.0)	n/a	n/a	n/a
>2	5.4 (2.2)	n/a	n/a	n/a
As needed: No set routine	13.2 (3.3)	n/a	n/a	n/a
Radiation oncologists only: On average, how frequently do you schedule routine, on-treatment check-ups with breast cancer patients during the course of radiation treatment?
Less than once per week	n/a	13.5 (4.2)	n/a	n/a
Once per week	n/a	85.0 (4.4)	n/a	n/a
More than once per week	n/a	1.6 (1.6)	n/a	n/a
As needed: no set routine	n/a	0	n/a	n/a
Surgeons only: During the 12 months following definitive breast surgery, on average, how frequently do you schedule routine follow-up visits with breast cancer patients for post-operative care?
0	n/a	n/a	0.6 (0.6)	n/a
1	n/a	n/a	10.1 (2.3)	n/a
2	n/a	n/a	16.8 (2.9)	n/a
>2	n/a	n/a	53.5 (3.8)	n/a
As needed: no set routine	n/a	n/a	19.0 (0.3)	n/a

^*Chi-squared test: p < 0.05.

^***Lincom comparison of means, p < 0.001.