Radiation oncology physicists are primarily involved with the planning and delivery of radiation treatments to cancer patients. Somewhat of a hidden gem in the medical world, their work is done largely behind the scenes. Their role however, is nonetheless critical to the delivery of safe, high quality health care.
“A lot of patients might not know medical physicists exist,” says Wendy Smith, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Oncology and co-director of the ROP certification program. “We’re involved in all stages of radiation therapy from site planning to designing new techniques. We ensure the radiation dose that’s prescribed by the physician is what is delivered to the patient.”
The two-term program was inspired by the large volume of applicants for the ROP residency program at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre who, despite having competitive educational backgrounds, lacked a background specific to radiation oncology physics. Without this background, students were ineligible for the residency program.
“We saw this need, this gap, where people were interested in joining our field,” she says. “They’re smart, talented people, but we couldn’t accept them.”
Smith says ROP courses have been offered to graduate physics students for several years, so they decided to repackage those courses. By making the courses accessible to individuals with a PhD in physics, the ROP certificate program provides students with that missing piece of the puzzle.
“We don’t, however, guarantee they’ll get into our residency,” says Smith, adding that there are many ROP residencies at various locations students can apply for.
A residency in radiation oncology physics is similar to that of a medical residency, the difference being participants haven’t gone through medical school−they’ve completed a PhD in physics. The residency gives them formal, on-the-job training, and just as in a medical residency, they are prepared by qualified mentors in each area they study. The ROP residency is generally two years in length, and after completion, graduates become clinical scientists. They are then able to work in a hospital or to choose a more academic career involving research and teaching.
Smith says while a medical physicist is not a physician, the job has a distinct medical focus.
“We take our scientific background and apply it to medicine,” she says, adding that they also do a lot of training with medical residents. “We have the first-year radiation oncology residents do a course in medical physics because they have to understand the principles of radiation physics to plan a treatment.”
Historically, medical physicists were hired based on completion of a PhD in physics and were given on-the-job training. The system was vulnerable to inconsistencies in the levels and types of training, prompting professional bodies to step in to attempt to tighten up the requirements for formal training. Residencies were also quite versatile, with no governing training standards. Smith says in the past few years, that trend has been changing as well.
“Now there are new regulations coming in saying you have to have gone through an accredited residency program in order to take the exams in Canada, so now you will be required to take an accredited program.”
Both the residency program and the certificate offered through UCalgary are accredited programs.
While the program is still new, Smith says they have many long term goals for the program, not only to serve Calgary, but to become a leader at an international level. Ultimately, they’d like to serve as a training facility, so if clinics elsewhere need to train somebody but don’t have the resources, they could send them to the UCalgary program.
“This could take a long time to achieve, but ultimately I think we could be a very useful international training program resource.”
In the meantime, the program is open to accepting students from anywhere in the world. Smith hopes that it can provide opportunities for people who may not have been previously aware of them, and that it helps those who wish to enter the field. Currently, there are two students enrolled and she says the contributions they’ve made to the education system have been substantial.
“I think they improve the quality of education. You get these older students who have seen a bit more of life and are really motivated. I think by being present, they’ve raised the bar for everyone.”