Residency in Medical Physics
Thank you for your interest in the Medical Physics clinical residency program in the Department of Radiation Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in
About the Program
The residency is a two-year program that emphasizes clinical excellence and professional development in radiation oncology physics. The expected activities, objectives and assessments to be completed during the residency are well-defined and are presented to incoming residents upon their arrival.
The residency includes didactic courses but the majority of time is spent in “hands-on” clinical rotations. Residents are expected to become an integral part of the Department of Radiation Oncology, performing clinical duties while interacting closely with the entire faculty and staff in a collegial manner.
The physics faculty works closely with 16 radiation oncologists and 8 medical residents who provide services to over 140 patients per day. Medical physics faculty also collaborate closely with colleagues in the Division of Molecular Radiation Biology, other UT Southwestern departments, and other UT campuses.
The benefits of the residency include professional career training, a competitive salary and benefits package, and a professional allowance to support travel and other professional needs. Graduating residents are expected to be well-prepared for a career in clinical medical physics and for the American Board of Radiology examination in therapeutic radiological physics. Graduates are encouraged to become contributing members of the medical physics community at large.
Eligibility and Application
Applicants are expected to have completed a PhD degree in medical physics, physics or a related field by the position start date. Preference is given to graduates of CAMPEP-approved medical physics graduate programs, but all qualifications are considered in the review process. A complete application includes:
- A cover letter (see instruction below)
- A curriculum vitae
- Three letters of reference
- Official transcripts covering the applicant’s graduate education only
The cover letter must include a personal statement that describes the applicant’s interest in the field of medical physics and an explicit summary of relevant coursework completed. Relevant coursework includes: a) medical physics, b) radiation biology, c) anatomy, and d) physiology. The description of completed coursework should contain the following elements: a) university name, b) course title, c) course length (credit hours), and d) instructor name. The cover letter must be limited to one page in length.
Electronic submission of application material in PDF format is required, but paper copies of official transcripts will be accepted if electronic copies are not offered through the applicant’s university. Emailed letters of reference must be sent directly from the author.
Application materials are accepted between October 15 and December 15 for the position starting the following July. Application materials received prior to or following these dates will not be considered. Incomplete applications will not be considered. The application review process is typically completed by January 31 and the highest ranking candidates are invited for a personal interview to take place by February 28. An offer will be made the first week of March for admittance on July 1.
Potential applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with informational literature regarding the medical physics profession, such as (1) AAPM’s “The Medical Physicist,” (2) AAPM’s “The Roles, Responsibilities, and Status of the Clinical Medical Physicist,” and (3) AAPM Report No.90, “Education and Training of Medical Physics Committee Subcommittee on Residency Training and Promotion.” All three documents can be obtained from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (see http://www.aapm.org).
About Us
The Department of Radiation Oncology is a vibrant department equipped with two Varian TrueBeam accelerators, one Varian Trilogy linear accelerator with OBI, two Varian linear accelerators with dynamic MLC, a BrainLAB Vero, an Elekta Synergy-S, an Elekta Gamma Knife Perfexion, Accuray CyberKnife, two Philips 16-slice Brilliance large-bore 4-D CT simulators, two Calypso electromagnetic tracking systems, two Vision RT systems, VariSource HDR, and ADAC Pinnacle, Varian Eclipse and BrainLAB iPlan treatment planning systems.
Our three clinical facilities are all located on one campus and offer a broad range of radiation oncology procedures including: IMRT, SRS, SBRT, TBI, TSET, and HDR and LDR brachytherapy. The department embraces education and supports a formal medical residency, a medical physics residency, an SBRT program and a variety of postdoctoral trainees in our research areas.
With four Nobel Laureates and 19 members of the National Academy of Sciences currently on faculty, UT Southwestern Medical Center ranks among the top academic medical centers in the world. Its faculty members, who are responsible for a broad array of groundbreaking biomedical research advances, are respected for their dedication to teaching, training and patient care. UT Southwestern, with nearly 9,300 faculty and staff, provides training to nearly 4,400 medical, graduate and allied health students, residents and postdoctoral scholars each year.
Ongoing support from federal agencies, private foundations, individuals and corporations provides more than $406 million per year to fund over 3,500 research projects. Faculty members and residents provide care to 100,000 inpatients and oversee 1.9 million outpatient visits per year at our ambulatory clinics. The Department of Radiation Oncology is part of the
The City of Dallas
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