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Medical Physics

Program Overview

Medical Physics Residency

The Medical Physics Residency Program generally lasts two years, but may be extended to three. As the program is accredited, residents follow the CAMPEP syllabus, working through a series of clinical rotations and learning modules in radiation therapy. They cover such topics as:

  • The overall radiation therapy process
  • Dosimetry, quality assurance and accelerator calibration
  • Treatment planning, dose calculation and optimization
  • Specialized techniques, including in-vivo dosimetry, stereotactic, image guidance, orthovoltage and brachytherapy
  • Radiation safety and treatment facility design

Physics residents participate in all aspects of the clinical physics workload, and each resident will take the lead on at least one research project during their term.
The residency program prepares its trainees through rigorous study and mentoring from senior physicists. Graduates are generally ready to apply for membership in the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine.
The funding of residency program positions throughout Ontario is supported by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care through Cancer Care Ontario. A general description of Medical Physics residency in Ontario is given at this link to the CCO Website. Some recent statistics (ex. number of positions, number of applicants etc. ) for the Kingston program is available here.

Medical Physics Graduate Students

Medical physics graduate students are part of the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy at Queen's, and their academic program largely mirrors that of their colleagues in other fields of physics. The medical physics program is research-based, culminating in the writing and defence of a thesis. Two courses in medical physics (PHYS 858 or its equivalent and PHYS 958 - see http://www.physics.queensu.ca/Courses/index.php ) are part of the program for all students; master's students take an additional two courses of their choice and doctoral students an additional five.

The program aims to produce well-rounded physicists who are experienced in a wide variety of situations. While the focus is on research in our non-accredited graduate program, most medical physics students will run several short investigative programs in dosimetry, radiation safety, quality assurance or other sub-fields of the profession, and will be exposed to many aspects of clinical physics at the CCSEO at KGH.
The requirements for admission into physics graduate studies at Queen’s University are described at here.

Admission

Residents

 

The medical physics department usually accepts one new resident per year, for a two-year term.

Candidates should have a Ph.D in medical physics or equivalent from a CAMPEP accredited university program.  Additional graduate, undergraduate or industrial experience in physics and engineering, particularly in radiation physics, is an asset.

Graduate Students

The requirements for admission into physics graduate studies at Queen’s University are described at:
http://www.physics.queensu.ca/Graduate/prospective.html
Potential students should check current admission requirements with the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy. The medical physics master's program looks for candidates with a strong acadmeic record and an undergraduate degree in physics, engineering physics or a related field; Ph.D candidates should, in addition, hold a master's degree in one of these fields.

Kingston Medical Physics

Residency Training 

Program Graduates

Reverse Chronological List of Program Graduates

Name

Qualifications 
(Degree, Year)

Date of Graduation

Current Occupation

Logan Montgomery PhD, Medical Physics Sept 2023
Medical Physicist
Kevin Alexander PhD, Medical Physics May 2022 Medical Physicist
Kurtis Dekker PhD, Medical Physics July 2020 Medical Physicist
Jean-David Jutras PhD, Medical Physics Sept 2019 Medical Physicist
Stefano Peca PhD, Medical Physics Sept 2018 Medical Physicist
Amr Heikal PhD, Medical Physics May 2016 Medical Physicist
Michel Lalonde PhD, Medical Physics Nov 2015 Medical Physicist
Tim Olding PhD, Physics Dec 2012 Medical Physicist
Lourdes Garcia PhD, Physics Dec 2012 Medical Physicist
Daxa Patel MSc, Physics May 2010 Medical Physicist
Xiangyang Mei PhD, Physics Apr 2009 Medical Physicist
Johnson Darko PhD, Physics Dec 2005 Medical Physicist
Shuying Wan PhD, Physics Oct 2004 Medical Physicist
Gregory Salomons PhD, Physics Jul 2002 Medical Physicist
Stephen Sawchuk PhD, Applied Math May 1996 Medical Physicist
Andrew Kerr PhD, Med. Biophys. May 1994 Medical Physicist
Frank Chisela PhD, Physics Jul 1992 Medical Physicist
Ted Sokolowski MSc, Physics Oct 1991 Medical Physicist
Moira Lumley MSc, Physics Jun 1998 Medical Physicist

 

CCSEO-KGH receives between 20 to 30 applications for residency when a position is advertised.

Certification Attained: Of the past 12 graduates of our residency program, 11 have already attained certification through either the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, American Board of Radiology, or the American Board of Medical Physics.

 


Program Statistics

April 2018

Year
# applying
# accepted
# graduating
# certified
# in clinical position
# in academics
# in industry
2008              
2009     2 2 2    
2010 25 2          
2011              
2012     2 2 2    
2013 33 1          
2014 24 1          
2015 36 1 1   2    
2016              
2017 52 1          
2018 38 1 1   1    
2019 28 1 1   1    
2020 28 1 1   1    
2022 11 1 1   1    

 

For information about program statistics for other programs in the province of Ontario, please go to this site.