Medical Physics Therapy Residency Program

College

  • Center City Campus
  • Sidney Kimmel Medical College

Degree Earned

  • Residency

Program Length

2 years

Program Type

  • On Campus

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Resident Salary & Benefits Information

Leadership & Program Contact

Name: Karen Mooney, PhD
Positions:
  • Program Director, Division of Medical Physics Residency
  • Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology
Name: Hamidreza Nourzadeh, PhD
Positions:
  • Associate Director, Medical Physics Therapy Residency Program
  • Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology
Organization: Jefferson - Center City
Name: Paul Sullivan, PhD
Position: Associate Director, Medical Physics Therapy Residency Program
Organization: Jefferson - Asplundh
Name: Laura Doyle, PhD
Position: Associate Director, Medical Physics Therapy Residency Program
Organization: Jefferson - Christiana Care
Name: Amy S. Harrison, PhD
Department: Associate Director, Medical Physics Therapy Residency Program
Organization: Jefferson - Christiana Care

Clinical Rotations

Below we have listed an example rotation schedule, and descriptions of our core rotation curricula. 

Orientation

Weeks 1-2: Resident to shadow each area of the department including attending physicians, nurses, CT simulation, dosimetry, physics, radiation safety, and time at each of the major treatment machines.

Weeks 3-8: The residents will then use the remainder of the two month orientation rotation to learn basic physics clinical competencies including machine QA, patient-specific QA, and in vivo dose measurements.

Weeks 1-2: Resident to follow POD/medical dosimetrists.

Weeks 3-12: Resident to have hands-on training with each staff medical dosimetrist.

Completion of competencies in dosimetry for the first rotations:

  • Irregular fields/MU calculations/electron calculations
  • 3D breast
  • 3D lung
  • 3D prostate
  • 3D brain

This rotation will teach basic 2D/3D planning and introduce the concepts of IMRT. The goals of this rotation do not include IMRT planning of any nature.

Residents will:

  • Complete 5 Prostate/Pelvis VMAT cases with use of Eclipse
  • Complete 5 Head/Neck VMAT cases with use of Eclipse
  • Complete 1 other VMAT site with use of Eclipse or Monaco
  • Complete 1 Prostate IMRT case with use of Eclipse
  • Complete 1 other IMRT case with use of Eclipse or Monaco
  • Learn OAR/PTV critical structures, fluence, segmentation, power and weight tools for planning
  • Use all fusion tools available in Eclipse and MIM
  • Explore the specifications of PET and MRI

Weeks 1-12: Completion of competencies in rotations:

  • Overview of QA, policy, and procedures
  • QA of delivery system performance, daily, monthly, annual
  • QA of planning process for patient treatment
  • QA of delivery parameters for patient treatment
  • Special procedures
  • Resolve/Triage clinical issues
  • Basic responsibilities of a clinical medical physicist as he/she functions in routine clinic operations

3 months: Completion of competencies in rotations:

  • Radioactive source production
  • Radioactive source characteristics
  • Practical protection procedures LDR
  • Radiation protection
  • Inventory of isotopes
  • Brachytherapy treatment planning
  • Paris, Quimby and Manchester systems
  • 5 HDR Gyn cases
  • 5 HDR Other cases (Prostate/Breast/Skin)
  • 5 Microsphere cases

The resident will be accountable for but not limited to treatment planning, with Oncentra and MIM, and pertinent hand calculations for both LDR and HDR. 

3 months: Completion of competencies in rotations:

  • Spot check and calibration of HDR
  • Practical protection procedures HDR
  • General shielding of isotopes
  • Accountability of isotopes
  • Brachytherapy treatment planning
  • 3 LDR Prostate cases
  • 5 HDR Gyn cases
  • 5 HDR Other cases (Prostate/Breast/Skin)
  • 5 Microsphere/LDR Cs/Radium cases

Weeks 1-2: Read manuals of equipment to be tested.

Weeks 3-12: Completion of competencies in rotations:

  • RTP configurations; Monaco, Eclipse, MIM, Raystation, Brainlab, Viewray, and/or Oncentra
  • Appropriate files for QA and data export for verification of IMRT/3D QA/VMAT.
  • Source file maintenance and patient file maintenance; location of appropriate files for patient data and LINAC configuration files.
  • Machine configuration for photon and electron, import radiation data for beam modeling.
  • Export feature for treatment; DICOM export of RTP plan, CT/MRI and DRR’s datasets for import into RADCALC, MiMVista, IView and XVI.
  • QA and documentation of commissioning.

This rotation will teach the resident how to accept an RTP for treatment planning, how to input and model beam data, export functionality for treatment verification.

Weeks 1-2: Read manuals of all systems to be tested.

Weeks 3-12: Completion of competencies in rotations:

  • Initial inspection of LINAC installation as specified by vendor (light vs. radiation, MLC and jaw bank calibrations, mechanical and radiation isocenters, accessory equipment; IView and XVI).
  • Photon and Electron: beam quality and field flatness/symmetry.
  • Radiation room survey for shielding and neutron production.
  • RTP data needed for a complete specification of LINAC; PDD and scanning for different modalities, diagonal scanning, and output factors needed for dose calculations.

This rotation will teach the procedure for how a linear accelerator is accepted and the steps involved in commissioning and surveying the installation.

Completion of competencies in rotations:

  • Read all relevant texts.
  • TBI simulation.
  • TBI and IORT patient setup (lateral, AP/AP, multifield: advantages and disadvantages).
  • Dosimetry.
  • Selection of energy, field size, distance, dose-rate considerations.
  • TBI and IORT MU calculations.

Completion of competencies in rotations:

  • Stochastic versus deterministic radiation effects.
  • Radiation terminology and equivalents.
  • Permissible dose levels (weekly, monthly, and yearly) for radiation workers and non-radiation workers.
  • What is the appropriate protocol for shielding (NCRP151, NCRP 49) calculations?
  • From above, definitions of workload, occupancy factor, and use factor.
  • IMRT/TBI/IORT effects on workload.
  • Neutron production and measurements.
  • Shortcuts for TVL and HVL.
  • Homogeneity coefficients relating to energy selection for concrete thickness.
  • HDR/LDR shielding for patients adjacent or visiting family.
  • Brachytherapy storage/handling of or transportation of sources.

This rotation will teach the resident the concepts of radiation shielding, room design, and the appropriate protocols to use.

This rotation will expose the resident to radiosurgical techniques employed with linear accelerator-based radiosurgery, specifically with BrainLab/Novalis system, and also with Gamma Knife, Cyberknife, Proton therapy, and MR-guided treatments.

Duration: 2 months.

Completed competencies at the end of the rotation:

Gamma Knife:

  • Observe the treatment planning for Gamma Knife radiosurgery.
  • Understand differences in the planning and dose prescription approaches for tumors, AVMs, and functional cases.
  • Understand and be able to explain treatment planning steps, e.g., imaging, localization, shot selection, and differences between the Gamma Knife planning and conventional 3D planning.
  • Observe and then perform under minimal supervision the daily Gamma Knife QA – understand the rationale of different QA tests and basic terminology associated with Gamma Knife.
  • Observe patient treatment and understand the steps involved in the treatment preparation and QA.

BrainLab/Novalis:

  • Observe and understand the treatment planning with the BrainScan planning software.
  • Understand and be able to explain/discuss treatment planning steps, e.g., imaging, fusion, localization, selection of the treatment modality (dynamic arcs, static fields, or IMRT), and differences between the BrainScan planning and conventional 3D planning.
  • Observe the linac daily warmup and understand the rationale behind various tests; observe and understand the steps involved in calibration of the ExacTrac keV image guidance system.
  • Observe patient treatment and image-guided positioning using ExacTrac system and robotic table; understand the flow (steps) of the procedure.
  • Observe and understand the immobilization principles of various immobilization devices: relocatable head and neck masks, invasive frames, and body immobilization.

PLEASE NOTE: Residents maintain standard clinical duties, including attendance at morning QA conference, IMRT QAs, monthlies, annuals, and MOSFETs, during all rotations. Also, cross-coverage must always be provided.

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