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Medical Physics Residency Program

Radiation oncology physics (also known as therapeutic radiological physics) is a subspecialty of medical physics related to the treatment of cancers and other benign diseases with high doses of ionizing radiation.

Responsibilities

Medical physicists are involved in three main activities: 

Education and Clinical Training

Most medical physicists have an MS or Ph.D. in medical physics, physics, engineering, nuclear science or related fields.  Clinical training may be obtained through a hospital based residency and/or post-doctoral program, with the goal of eventually becoming clinically certified by a national certification board (i.e., the American Board of Radiology).

University of Michigan Health Systems

The University of Michigan Health System includes three hospitals (C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, University Hospital and Women’s Hospital), with a total of 865 licensed beds. The department of radiation oncology is located on level B2 of University Hospital. The main department is affiliated with several radiation oncology clinics, including the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Ann Arbor and several community hospitals.The main department is equipped with:

Radiation Physics Faculty

The University of Michigan has a large physics group, eighteen faculty physicists in the main department, with clinical and research responsibilities.  In addition to conformal external beam treatment delivery, other special clinical treatments include:

Research includes:

Medical Physics Residency Program

The Radiation Oncology Physics Residency Program was established at the University of Michigan in 2002 under the directorship of James Balter, Ph.D. In June of 2006, a co-director, Joann Prisciandaro, Ph.D., was appointed to assist initiate the CAMPEP application process.  The objective of the residency program is to provide high quality and professional education and training to physicists in the following areas of clinical radiation oncology physics:

Graduates from the program will be familiar with advanced techniques in clinical treatment and have a sound understanding of the principles of cancer therapy.

Below, please find a list of current and past residents.

Name
Year of Graduation
Current Occupation
Scott Hadley, Ph.D.
2003
 Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
Lars Ewell, Ph.D
2004
 Assistant Professor, University of Arizona
Paul Heckman, Ph.D.
2005
 Clinical Medical Physicist, Assarian Cancer Center
Donald Roberts, Ph.D.
2006
 Instructor, University of Michigan
Christina Christou, Ph.D.
2007
 Clinical Medical Physicist, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Chadd Smith, Ph.D.
2008
 Clinical Medical Physicist, Henry Ford Medical Center
Anant Gopal, Ph.D.
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Yimei Huang, Ph.D.
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Peng Wang, Ph.D.
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Joel Wilkie, Ph.D.
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Hanan Amro, Ph.D.
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In addition to the medical physics residency program, we have developed an ancillary training program in collaboration with Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. Below is a list of past and present Israeli physicists who have received clinical and didactic training at the University of Michigan.

Name
Year of Graduation
Current Occupation
Natan Shtraus, B.Sc.
2007
 Clinical Medical Physicist, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
Nir Honig, B.Sc.
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Program Duration

The clinical residency program provides two years of full-time clinical training divided into ten rotations, via two training tracks, designated as the standard and academic tracks.

The standard clinical residency program is designed to provide both didactic and clinical training over a continuous two year period.  This track concentrates predominately on clinical training under the supervision of a faculty mentor, and allows residents to become involved in several clinical projects to improve the efficiency of clinical flow, implement new clinical protocols, and integrate new technology.

The academic clinical residency program is a new training option offered at the University of Michigan.  Academic clinical residents are presented didactic and clinical training as well as research opportunities over the course of three years.  This group of residents will receive concentrated, full-time clinical training for eight months of each year (2 years total dedicated clinical time over the 3 year period), while spending the remaining four months of each year concentrating on a faculty-mentored research project. 

During their clinical training, the resident will be expected to complete rotations in five areas of radiation oncology physics under faculty supervision, twice during their residency. 

Coursework and Teaching

To complement their clinical training, medical physic residents will take courses in radiobiology, clinical oncology, and diagnostic radiology.  Residents will also be expected to attend weekly treatment planning conferences, weekly physics seminars, and monthly physics journal clubs. 

Medical physics residents will expected to provide teaching assistance for either the radiation therapy technician’s physics course or the radiation therapy medical resident’s physics course.  As a teaching assistance, they will be expected to attend all medical physics lectures.

Requirements for Admission

The department of radiation oncology typically advertises for candidates twice a year. Candidates should have a Ph.D. in medical physics, physics, engineering, or related fields, and must be willing to commit 2 - 3 years to the residency program.  Resident’s performance and progress will be documented monthly by the program director and following each rotation by the faculty mentor.  Following a review of these documents, the program director and residency committee reserve the right to dismiss residents who fail to demonstrate competency, responsibility, industriousness and ethical behavior.

Contact and Apply

The University of Michigan medical physics residency program will be seeking applicants for June of 2009. The deadline for applications is December 31, 2008 (note: applications will not be accepted after deadline). For details on this position and how to apply, please see the links below.

The University of Michigan is a non-discriminatory, affirmative action employer.

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