Clinical Training

During the 36-month program at Fox Chase Cancer Center you will complete clinical training rotations that satisfy CAMPEP residency program requirements as well as becoming involved in specific research with clinical application.

The clinical requirements include evaluated clinical rotations through the following subspecialty areas:

• Linear accelerator (daily, monthly, annual QA, absolute calibrations; acceptance testing/commissioning
• Detectors/Equipment (ion chambers, film, diodes, TLD, water scanning system)
• Information Systems (Mosaiq, Argus, Eclipse, DICOM/RT, Network, PACS)
• External Beam (treatment planning, TPS, Dose calculations, monitor unit calculations
• Radiation Safety/Protection – Regulatory/Room Shielding (linacs, brachy, CT/PET)
• Simulation (CT/MR Simulators, monthly QA, annual QA, Lasers/FAD; Acceptance testing/commissioning; software
• IGRT (EPID, OBI, CBCT, Calypso, 4DCT-Gating, CT-on-rails
• IMRT, VMAT, PLDR (inverse planning, leaf sequencing, plan QA)
• Brachytherapy HDR; Brachytherapy LDR (Prostate, CivaSheet)
• Special Procedures (total body irradiation, special shields, in vivo dosimetry
• SRS/SBRT (TPS, planning, delivery, QA); linac-based SRS/SBRT-both sites; CyberKnife-Buckingham
• Clinical rotation research 

Each rotation is mentored and evaluated. Your training also will include work on clinical projects, carried out under the supervision of the medical physics faculty.

Didactic Training

Clinical conferences, seminars, small discussion groups, journal clubs and one-on-one instruction are all an integral part of the program. You will participate in the following:

• Radiation Oncology and Medical Physics journal clubs
• Physics section meetings
• Medical physics and oncology conferences
• Treatment planning conferences
• New Patient Conference
• Radiation Physics course
• Anatomy course
• Clinical Oncology course

Research Training

Research training is integrated into the three-year program and coordinated with your clinical training. Research involves projects directly related to basic and translational research as well as clinical applications of physics in the practice of radiation oncology.

Evaluation

Clinical competency is evaluated through oral exam based rotation evaluations and by annual reviews with the faculty and clinical mentors. Research competency is evaluated by research supervisors and through peer reviewed presentations and publications.

Career Development

The environment and large patient volume at Fox Chase Cancer Center will prepare you for all aspects of clinical medical physics practice. Involvement in the applied research of the medical practice will further strengthen your academic skills. You will be expected to participate in national medical physics or radiation oncology meetings.