General Information
The Medical Physics Residency Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) started in 2001. The program was further enhanced with a grant support from the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in 2006, and was accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP) in 2008. The Residency is overseen by the Medical Physics Faculty within UNMC’s Department of Radiation Oncology that includes six physicists (6 PhD), five physicians, and five dosimetrists.
The Residency is a two-year program that emphasizes clinical excellence and professional development in Radiation Oncology Physics. The expected activities, objectives and assessments to be completed during the Residency are well-defined and are presented to incoming residents on their arrival. The Residency includes didactic courses but the majority of time is spent in “hands-on” clinical rotations. Residents are expected to become an integral part of the Department of Radiation Oncology performing clinical duties while interacting closely with the entire faculty and staff, including physicians, dosimetrists, and therapists, in a collegial manner. The successful resident will be able to demonstrate competency in all areas of clinical Radiation Oncology Physics and will be qualified to take the certification examination of the American Board of Radiology in Therapeutic Radiologic Physics once prerequisites of the Board are fulfilled. The benefits of the Residency include professional career training, clinical research opportunities, a competitive salary and benefits package (health insurance, books, vacation, sick leave), university student benefits, relocation assistance, paid parking and travel to one professional Medical Physics meeting. Graduating Residents are presented with a Certificate of Residency Completion and are expected to be well-prepared for a career in clinical medical physics. Graduates are encouraged to become contributing members of the Medical Physics community at large.
The Department of Radiation Oncology is equipped with four linear accelerators (LINACs) on the Omaha campus, including one LINAC dedicated to stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiotherapy applications. Satellites in West Omaha and Shenendoah, Iowa are equipped with one LINAC each. The resident will receive training in treatments involving 3D conformal radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, 4DCT simulation, respiratory gating, total body irradiation, total skin electron irradiation, intraoperative radiotherapy, high dose rate brachytherapy, interstitial and intraluminal low dose rate radiotherapy, prostate seed implantation, intravascular brachytherapy, and eye plaques. The resident will learn to operate and perform quality assurance testing on linear accelerators, CT and conventional simulators, and several image guided radiotherapy equipment such as flat panel electronic portal imaging devices, CT on rails, mega-voltage cone-beam CT, a stereoscopic kV x-ray system (ExacTrac®), and an AC electromagnetic transponder positioning and real-time target tracking system (CalypsoTM). Several treatment planning systems are available for resident training, including Pinnacle3, iPlan, Brachyvision, CORVUS, and CMS/XiO.
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