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<title>[Training Tuesday] - Weekly thread for questions about grad school, residency, and general career topics 04/11/2023</title>
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<h1>[Training Tuesday] - Weekly thread for questions about grad school, residency, and general career topics 04/11/2023</h1>
<p>This is the place to ask questions about graduate school, training programs, or general basic career topics. If you are just learning about the field and want to know if it is something you should explore, this thread is probably the correct place for those first few questions on your mind.</p>
<h2>Examples:</h2>
<ul>
<li>"I majored in Surf Science and Technology in undergrad, is Medical Physics right for me?"</li>
<li>"I can't decide between Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics..."</li>
<li>"Do Medical Physicists get free CT scans for life?"</li>
<li>"Masters vs. PhD"</li>
<li>"How do I prepare for Residency interviews?"</li>
</ul>
<h2>Comments:</h2>
<ol>
<li>
<p>For “ReligusPotato78” and “pasandwall,” who replied to the original post on r/MedicalPhysics: thank you! Got your replies - the mod stopped further comments.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h3>Comment 1:</h3>
<p>Great. And yeah, there is also resonance with the fact that Med Phys seems to be a great intersection of wonderful sciences. And, there has never been a research offer from a professor.. to stay over, etc.</p>
<p>Guys, please also tell if any of you had Community College experience!</p>
<p>You Might Wanna Answer This</p>
<h3>Response 1:</h3>
<p>Hey guys! The user is a now ex-premedical student who had completed their undergraduate degree and has now decided to pursue Medical Physics as a career. Hence, they would love feedback on their queries:</p>
<ul>
<li>How is the job of a Medical Physicist like? In clinic, and depending on specialty. Like, what do Radiation Therapy specialists do differently from Diagnostic Imaging specialists, etc.; and how is a day-in-the-life like? Do they interact with patients, craft a plan with the Physician and Dosimetrist, etc.?</li>
<li>How was the undergraduate-level Physics coursework like? Courses like Classical Mechanics, Electricity & Magnetism, Mathematical Physics; how were they like and generally how hard? They are just a bit concerned about keeping a good GPA for grad/Doctorate school. Lol.</li>
<li>What is the scope for DMPs in the future?</li>
<li>What type of CME credit can they take, as a Medical Physicist? Like, can they learn about diseases about any body part?</li>
<li>How many times do they have to retake their boards, once they become board-certified for the first time?</li>
</ul>
<p>Thank you. Awaiting replies and guidance!</p>
<h3>Response 2:</h3>
<p>Hi! The user was previously on a pre-med pathway as a Biology major getting decent grades, when they started researching proton therapy and thought it was super cool. They transferred from community college and are now attending a university and majoring in Biophysics. They kind of had no idea what to expect in Biophysics so they just took the leap and started heading in that direction and boy, this semester is kicking their butt. Calc 3 and Modern Physics is hard :(. They're not going to give up though because they know when they get more into their actual major classes they'll stick it out.</p>
<p>They don't want to pursue pre-med anymore and are now considering something different like dosimetry. It seems interesting. So basically they just pursue a 2 year Masters and take a Dosimetry exam? From what they've researched in the era of telemedicine and Covid are dosimetrists commonly remote? If so, that's pretty cool! What is the day in the life of a dosimetrist? Is it typically a 9-5 type deal, on-call, or is it more flexible? Any advice??</p>
<p>Are these salaries considered entry level? If not, what's the average salary for those with a few years experience?</p>
<h3>Response 3:</h3>
<p>Hi everyone! The user is currently on track to get their PhD in electrical engineering and their work is on RF heating in SEEG electrodes and DBS during an MRI scan. Obviously, since they are doing EE, their program is not accredited. What would be their next step to be able to do a residency and do MR physics? To add some context their research has kinda been split, they do their classes and are a student at one university but do their actual MRI research at a hospital/med school since they have no engineers. Their advisor at the university they attend did her PhD in MRI and their advisor at the hospital is a neurosurgeon.</p>
<p>If they're super sure they want to go into MP they'll need to do a certificate program: <a href="http://www.campep.org/campeplstcert.asp">http://www.campep.org/campeplstcert.asp</a></p>
<h3>Response 4:</h3>
<p>Hi everyone! The user is a second year undergrad, hoping to go into medical physics in the future! They're hoping to get some advice on applying to grad school and if there is anything they can start reading/learning about!</p>
<p>They were a cs + physics major but got bored in cs classes and they just transferred to honours physics (it literally just got approved today!) They have taken all required phys and math courses for honours physics degree except an intro to stat mach course bc it conflicted with cs classes at the time. They have a research job this summer. They're wondering if anyone who is going or has gone to grad school can give some advice on getting into grad school and what grad school admission is looking for specifically for med phys programs.</p>
<p>They are SUPER interested in learning radiation therapy and medical imaging! They're wondering if anyone has any recommendations on good textbooks or articles they can start reading as summer is about to start!!</p>
<h4>Response 4.1:</h4>
<p>They'll be looking for good grades in their major especially in upper division classes, good letters of recommendation, intelligently written personal statement about why they want to become a medical physicist, preferably undergrad research experience too.</p>
<p>If they're really interesting in imaging or therapy (or both!) they would actually not recommend just straight up reading textbooks especially over the summer. Instead look into REU's or just volunteering in labs working on those topics, however they understand that can be hard to come by.</p>
<p>Thank you so much!! They'll look into that for sure!</p>
<h3>Response 5:</h3>
<p>Apologies for the long post.</p>
<p>Current first year in a Canadian university that offers a specialization in 'biophysics' with courses that prepare for campep (2.0 year 3 courses - EM1 QM1, intro to thermal and intro to optical) along with 4.0 credits in biophysics and a research project.</p>
<p>Their question is would this be a good foundation (compared to a physics specialization) if their goal is to pursue an accredited masters or PhD in schools like Duke or Columbia?¹</p>
<p>From what they know a PhD is a must in Canada because of the competition and it's easier in the states but would visa issues be a major problem in matching?</p>
<p>Not trying to go straight to a PhD as this field is an interesting backup to medicine for now.</p>
<p>¹ They're not sure if their general prestige translates well into medical physics so advice on programs to consider is also appreciated</p>
<h4>Response 5.1:</h4>
<p>Sounds like a good start, most of the time at least a minor's worth of upper div physics classes is required by grad programs, and they think most places would have mechanics in that list.</p>
<h3>Response 6:</h3>
<p>I have a couple questions:</p>
<p>Can they become a medical physicist working in hospitals/clinics after a masters? Or should they be considering a phd?</p>
<p>They are also in their first year of a biological and medical physics undergrad and they have a 70 in general physics but 90 in medical physics courses. Do their first year, or second year marks matter?</p>
<h4>Response 6.1:</h4>
<p>A Master's is fine. They only have a Master's and are currently in a residency program. Not sure how true it is, but they were told that having a PhD is better for getting residency positions, but a Master's is better for finding work after (because they can pay a little less). From the AAPM salary survey they don't feel like the pay difference was significant enough to warrant going for a PhD.</p>
<p>They applied for their Master's several years after their undergrad, but on the application they only asked about grades from the last 2 years, so first and second year grades didn't matter at all.</p>
<h4>Response 6.2:</h4>
<p>Do they have recommendations for good Master’s programs?</p>
<p>Maybe. Depends on where in the world they're located</p>
<h3>Comment 2:</h3>
<p>Anyone know how transferable across countries residency training is? For example, if they do a residency and become certified in the UK, does that carry over and they'd still be considered a "qualified" medical physicist in the US?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theabr.org/medical-physics/initial-certification/international-medical-graduates">https://www.theabr.org/medical-physics/initial-certification/international-medical-graduates</a></p>
<h3>Comment 3:</h3>
<p>What are some salary ranges as a medical physicist?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/medical-physicist-salary-SRCH_KO0,17.htm">From Glassdoor.</a></p>
<h3>Comment 4:</h3>
<p>If they get a masters in medical physics and after residency are working in a clinic, are they still able to do research within the clinic or do only PhDs do research in a clinic? They’re finishing up a masters in physics where they will get 1, and possibly a 2nd, publishing in medical physics before starting the masters program, and love doing research. But they want to mainly work in a clinic and do some research on top of that, and was wondering if that’s possible for a masters or if they need the PhD? Thanks for the help in advance!</p>
<p>MS physicists can do research, and some of PhD physicists are just clinical and don't do research regularly. It all depends on their institution/employer.</p>
<h3>Comment 5:</h3>
<p>On average during their masters/PhD, how much were they shadowing/volunteering in the clinic while doing research/finishing their degree? Did they have continuous clinical practicum or just a semester or two of for-credit shadowing? Their program is in the middle of implementing more clinical experiences for students and they're curious to know how it's managed in other programs.</p>
<p>In their masters program, the fall and spring semester of the second year were dedicated to working in the clinic. The rest of the course work was completed in the fall, spring, and summer of the first year. During these "clinical rotations" they worked on dosimetry, patient qa, machine qa, weekly chart checks, and their thesis.</p>
<p>In their opinion, pros of this program structure were that they had a great understanding of the clinical workflow, great hands on experience in the clinic, completed all of their didactic courses prior to taking abr part 1 in August, and, as a result of everything previously stated, the program's students did well during residency interviews.</p>
<p>The cons are that not all of the students adapted well to the heavily weighted front half course work (themselves included). Additionally, working 40+ hours a week in the clinic during the second year of the program made pursuing extracurricular academic activities or part-time employment to compensate for living expenses a challenge. There's also the ethical dilemma of having students pay the university to work that much in the clinic.</p>
<p>Ultimately, they feel that the clinical experience was valuable and helped solidify many of the concepts taught through the coursework, but not to the extent their graduate school implemented it.</p>
<h3>Comment 6:</h3>
<p>[deleted]</p>
<h4>Response 6.3:</h4>
<p>Does the PhD have to campep accredited as well?</p>
<p>No</p>
<h3>Comment 7:</h3>
<p>I’m currently taking Calculus 1 and aiming to get a B-. I messed up bad on my first exam and then did much better on the second one. Is it worth retaking this class for a better grade for grad school acceptance or should I move onto Calc 2/ physics courses?</p>
<p>Don't sweat a B; it's definitely not worth retaking a class over a B especially Calc 1. Just aim to improve for future classes and don't forget to have fun in college.</p>
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URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/MedicalPhysics/comments/12ig51p/training_tuesday_weekly_thread_for_questions/