Session L11: Careers for Physicists in Medical Physics

Live

I completed a PhD in nuclear physics at Jefferson Lab. I continued as a nuclear physics postdoc at Argonne National Lab. The cover page picture of “Physics today” 2002, showing a proton therapy machine, changed my life, making me switch careers to medical physics. Today I am a board certified faculty medical physicist in Radiation Oncology. My career consists of three components: providing clinical medical physics services to Radiation Oncology, writing grants and working on research projects, and educating the next generation: undergraduates, graduate students, medical physics residents, and medical residents. This session consists of presentations covering a wide range of branches from medical physics, such as radiation therapy, diagnostic imaging, clinical, industry, research, and teaching.   

Live

Medical Physics offers career opportunities not only in clinics and academia, but in industry as well. In addition to making valuable contributions inside a company, medical physicists can also create start-ups to have a bigger impact. This talk will start from my experiences in both areas and will also showcase a few other examples.   

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Medical Physics is a branch of physics in which physics principles, methods and techniques are applied for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. It is a rewarding field, which offers a broad spectrum of career opportunities while presenting with many interesting challenges. With the increasing demand for qualified Medical Physicists, pursuing a graduate degree in Physics is no longer sufficient to get into the field of Medical Physics. In this presentation, the path to transitioning in to different areas of medical physics will be discussed.   

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I completed a PhD in experimental particle physics in 2007 as a member of the Collider Detector at Fermilab Collaboration. I continued as a postdoc at CDF for three years, but eventually decided I wanted a career with more hands-on, real-world impact. I chose medical physics, and after completing a clinical residency and certificate course, I’m a board-certified clinical medical physicist in Radiation Oncology. I have a faculty appointment at Harvard Medical School, which gives me the opportunity for research and development work and teaching in addition to my clinical work at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In this talk, I’ll discuss my pathway to medical physics, my day-to-day life now, and what skills carried over from my doctoral training in basic physics.   

Live

Are you curious about what a physicist does in diagnostic radiology? I’m a board-certified diagnostic medical physicist and will explain how we play an important role in ensuring that imaging exams are performed safely and accurately. I will elaborate on my various responsibilities as a medical physicist and touch base on the unique issues associated with each of the imaging modalities which makes our work so interesting. Along the way, I’ll also describe some alternative careers paths combining diagnostic radiology and physics.   

Live

On the surface, medical physics and astrophysics may seem like completely unrelated disciplines. However, the skills and technical knowledge developed through studying astrophysics often have a surprisingly direct application to medical imaging and the use of radiation to treat disease. For astrophysicists who are considering different career paths, medical physics provides an opportunity to use their background to develop new ways of treating disease as well as directly participating in clinical patient care. In this presentation I will discuss the challenges and opportunities for astrophysicists who are considering switching to the medical physics field. I will discuss the varying roles that medical physicists play, both in research and clinical care. I will discuss my career path as an example, starting from my PhD in astrophysics focusing on radio instrumentation and early universe cosmology, through my current position as a medical physicist where I develop new imaging techniques for guiding radiation therapy and help to deliver these treatments to cancer patients.