Medical Physics Residency Openings
The medical physics residency program in Radiation Oncology opened in Fall of 2016, receiving CAMPEP accreditation in 2017. We currently have 4 residency slots, with 2 first-year and 2 second-year residents.
We have participated in Medical Physics Match program from 2017 to 2019 with two open positions each year. From 2020 onwards, the decision was made to offer the positions internally, to the interested students of the Medical Physics graduate program at The University of Toledo. This means our own students have the greatest chance of finding a residency, either here or elsewhere if they choose. The deadline for our internal residency application is set to October 5 to allow the candidates to participate in the Match program if not selected for the UToledo residency. Only if do not find internal applicants to fill the 2 positions do we enter the match and look for external applicants. This has not happened in recent years.
Consistent with many of our physician colleagues, the residency start date is July 1. Our residents are part of GME so they gain many of the same benefits as physician residents. For example, our residents get 4 weeks’ vacation each year and get a competitive salary of approximately $55,000.
Admission Requirements
Successful applicants entering our medical physics residency educational program shall have a strong foundation in basic physics. This shall be demonstrated either by an undergraduate or graduate degree in physics, or by a degree in an engineering discipline or another of the physical sciences and with coursework that is the equivalent of a minor in physics (i.e., one that includes at least three upper-level undergraduate physics courses that would be required for a physics major). In addition, successful applicants must either have graduated from a CAMPEP-accredited graduate program, or possess a Ph.D. in physics or related discipline and have completed a CAMPEP-accredited certificate program.
Candidate Selection Process
We strongly believe that online interviews should be used to reduce the financial burden to our applicants. Our interviews start shortly after the application deadline. The standardized and structured interviews consistent of multiple short questions. We ask questions of two types: 1) based on a nonclinical scenario and 2) clinical or technical. The first type of questions is often used by medical schools and aims to elucidate applicant’s personality and their ability to deal with both logical and ethical problems. The second type is designed to test an applicant’s experience and depth of knowledge in medical physics.
What are we looking for in an ideal resident?
Our ideal applicant will have clinical skills that we can build on. We want you to have some real hands-on experience in the clinic so that you can say with conviction that this is the right career for you. We believe that you should really enjoy what you do and we will be looking for enthusiasm and eagerness to learn. We have a great working environment where therapists, physicians, and physicists all work together, and it is important to us that future residents will be able to comfortably work and contribute to that positive collaboration. To that end we will be looking for an applicant with great interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a team.
We want to train residents who will be successful in the field. This includes academic skills and the ability to pass the boards exams. We look at the ABR part 1 as an indicator for successful completion of future parts of the ABR and we will do everything we can to make sure residents are fully prepared to take and pass parts 2 and 3 upon graduation. For our second-year residents we offer a mock Part 2 exam, given at our university’s test center and fully simulating the exam environment.
Finally, an ideal applicant will have research or clinical quality improvement experience and bring some new skills to our group.