Medical Physics Residency Program

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Program Overview

The Medical Physics Residency Program in the Radiology Department is a clinical training program at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The training program is based on the Standards for Accreditation of Residency Educational Programs in Medical Physics as published by Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Program (CAMPEP), and follows the “Essentials and Guidelines for Clinical Medical Physics Residency Training Programs” as outlined in AAPM Report #249. The program is designed to provide two years of progressive supervised clinical training. The goal of the residency program is to train medical physicists to be competent to practice independently in clinical diagnostic imaging physics. The program provides clinical training to prepare graduates for the certification examination of the American Board of Radiology (ABR) and a professional career in diagnostic radiological physics. Ultimately, the program and faculty are committed to preparing learners in patient care and to producing fully competent and qualified medical physicists. In the course of the program, the residents achieve the following objectives:

Demonstrate knowledge of all aspects of diagnostic imaging physics practice including imaging equipment specification, acceptance testing, quality assurance and quality control, patient radiation dose measurements and estimation, dose monitoring and dose optimization, image artifact identification and correction, radiation shielding design for imaging modalities, implementation and assessment of new imaging techniques;
Engage learners in educational activities for radiologists, technologists and other users of diagnostic imaging equipment;
Prepare learners who will be capable of establishing and maintaining a comprehensive quality control program that ensures compliance with federal and state regulations and accreditation requirements such as those of the American College of Radiology (ACR) and The Joint Commission (TJC).

The Medical Physics Residency Program is accredited by CAMPEP.

Section of Medical Physics - Department of Radiology

The Section of Medical Physics in the Department of Radiology includes 3 PhD clinical physicists, 1 radiation physics coordinator and other administrative supporting staff. Physicists and residents are employees of Medical College of Wisconsin. Clinical activities performed by the Medical Physics Section include ACR and The Joint Commission (TJC) QA programs as well as development, implementation, and support for specific procedures in radiography, fluoroscopy, interventional radiology, special procure/cardiac cath labs, digital mammography, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and nuclear medicine.

Training

The Medical College of Wisconsin Medical Physics Residency Program is a two-year program. Throughout the training program, the resident is expected to participate in routine clinical imaging physics activities. The resident works closely with faculty physicists, clinical engineers, and technologists to observe and participate in the following:

X-ray and fluoroscopy imaging equipment testing/QA
Interventional radiology/Cardiac Cath Lab and special procedure lab equipment testing/QA
CT ACR physics testing /QA/protocol
MRI ACR physics testing /QA/support
Digital mammography/tomosynthesis ACR/MQSA physics testing/QA and support
Nuclear Medicine QA/support
Diagnostic imaging equipment shielding design
Fetus dose calculation
Diagnostic imaging display monitor testing and QA
Miscellaneous other physical and technical tasks

Clinical rotations are the core elements of residency training. Each rotation contains particular training essentials that include independent-study materials. The training essentials may or may not include a check-off list of mastered tasks, depending on the rotation. Specific comprehension essentials were developed for each rotation to ensure that the resident understands the background and details involving the rotation. The resident will meet monthly with the Program Director/Associate Program Director to assess rotation progress. Mandatory readings are assigned for each rotation along with additional suggested readings to prepare residents for the comprehensions and training essentials.

In addition to clinical rotations, the resident is encouraged to participate in research, and present the research result for presentation and publication on a national level.

Rotations

The resident follows a clinical rotation schedule, which includes specific training objectives of various clinical rotations with their rotational mentors, details of each clinical rotation duration, written expectations, training elements, and additional reading assignments to strengthen theoretical understanding of various clinical procedures. The rotation mentor should have close contact with the resident to ensure that there is good progression with the rotation objectives. The following is the standard training schedule for the 2-year residency program:

Rotations

Total of 104 weeks:

Orientation/Safety: 2 weeks
Rotations through the nine areas the first time (primary): 50 weeks
Annual evaluation/identification of weaknesses: 1 week
Rotations through the nine areas the second time (secondary): 49 weeks
Annual evaluation/identification of weaknesses: 2 weeks

Residents are expected to contribute to the routine clinical support activities throughout their residency training. Here, “routine clinical support activities” refers to those activities that, in the absence of a resident, would be performed by a clinical medical physicist. Such routine activities are combined with the education of the clinical training and the time involved is appropriate so that it can serve as an enhancement of the educational experience of the resident instead of a distraction from the education. Additionally, residents also assist in the teaching of the practicum laboratories to radiology resident and radiology technologist school physics courses.

Detailed training plans are included for the following rotations:

General Radiography (7 weeks in primary rotation and 7 weeks in secondary rotation)
Fluoroscopy (7 weeks in primary rotation and 7 weeks in secondary rotation)
Interventional Radiology/Cardiac Cath Imaging (6 weeks in primary rotation and 6 weeks in secondary rotation)
Digital Mammography (6 weeks in primary rotation and 6 weeks in secondary rotation)
Computed Tomography (5 weeks in primary rotation and 5 weeks in secondary rotation)
MRI (5 weeks in primary rotation and 5 weeks in secondary rotation)
Ultrasound (2 weeks in primary rotation and 2 weeks in secondary rotation)
Nuclear Medicine and PET (8 weeks in primary rotation and 8 weeks in secondary rotation)
Imaging Informatics (2 weeks in primary rotation and 2 weeks in secondary rotation)
Vacation (6 weeks)

Imaging Equipment

The equipment listed below is available at Froedtert Hospital/MCW or at one of the satellite sites. All equipment is available for physics faculty and staff in patient care and the instruction of medical physics residents. The current imaging equipment inventory that the Radiology Department provides medical physics services includes the following:

General Radiography
Fluoroscopy
Interventional Radiology and Cardiovascular Imaging
Mammography (including digital breast tomosynthesis)
Computed Tomography
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Ultrasound
Nuclear Medicine
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Diagnostic Imaging Display Monitors

Current Residents

2018-2019
Dustin Ragan, PhD
Medical Physics Resident, Year 1

2017-2018

Yonggang Lu

Yonggang Lu, PhD
Medical Physics Resident, Year 2

Past Residents

This is a new program. There are no graduates from the Medical Physics Residency Program at this time.

Application Process

Medical College of Wisconsin Medical Physics Residency Program will be participating in the 2019 Medical Physics Matching Program.

For program prerequisites and to apply, please go to AAPM Medical Physics Residency Application Program (MP-RAP). If you have any other questions, please contact Carrie Gilbert at cagilbert@mcw.edu.

Medical Physics Information

For more information about the field of medical physicist, please use the links to information provided by the American Association for Physics in Medicine (AAPM):