Minutes… · Web view81.1% of PD responded (representing 86 of 106 accredited programs at the time), and based on their responses, 20% of PD indicated that they believe there is

ETC Agenda, May 4, 2018

Education and Training of Medical Physicists MeetingFriday, May 4, 2018

2:00 – 3:00 pm, Eastern

Meeting Agenda

Members: Joann Prisciandaro (chair), Jacqueline Zoberi (vice-chair), John Antolak, Jay Burmeister, Wolfram Laub (abs), Kip Matthews (abs), Osama Mawlawi, Robert Pizzutiello (abs), Julianne Pollard-Larkin (abs), Anthony Seibert, and Dennis Stanley

I. Old Businessa. Review of on-line publications from the STSC

The Working Group to promote non-clinical career paths for medical physicists have generated a series of seven blogs related to training, skills, and career options for trainees interested in a non-clinical career.

Posting have been circulated to ETC members for comments (attached to end of document).

In addition to the WG’s website, the WG intends to post these blogs online at: https://aapmstsc.wordpress.com/ and https://www.aapm.org/students/.

A version of the posts including edits will be circulated to the ETC members, and members will be asked to review and return their comments by May 18th.

WG intends to release the posts every two weeks. John asked about how students would handle comments received

between postings. Would the subsequent posts be edited to address the comments, and whether another round of reviews may be needed.

Dennis indicated this was discussed by the WG, and unless there was a substantial change, or need for one, the posts would not be changed based on comments.

John inquired about fast tracking the edits, as the comments may change the focus of future posts. Dennis will discuss whether this option should be considered with the WG.

b. Challenges and opportunities for ETC and its daughter SC, WG, and TG

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https://www.aapm.org/students/

https://aapmstsc.wordpress.com/


During the Education Council retreat, all committees were asked to present challenges and opportunities ETC will face over the next year. The following is the list that was presented to EC:

o Concerns about communication between program directors and applicants during match interviews; some inappropriate questions have been asked of applicants; who can we provide guidance for interview process and mechanism for complaints to be registered

The SC on the Oversight of MedPhys Match was asked to (1) set up a means for reporting inappropriate interview practices, and (2) develop guidelines and means for promoting and sharing these with program directors.

This will be discussed by SC during the annual AAPM meeting. However, is this AAPM’s responsibility, or rather the programs? Individual programs should be complying with employment law practices.

Although this may be better handled by SDAMPP, they may not have the resources to address this issue.

SC could provide some examples of best practices, and issues encountered. Share available resources with PD (Kristy Hendrickson manuscript for instances demonstrating some issues encountered by applicants, and University of Washington’s code of conduct).

o Some gamesmanship by some programs during match process; should perhaps clarify written guidelines for program directors

There may not be a great deal that we can do to address this issue. Some suggestions have been made about posting potential interview dates early.

Dennis asked about organizing regional interview weeks. Challenging in practice due to faculty/staff schedules, as well as clinical and professional commitments.

o SDAMPP still working on formulating the WG on residency training

Hopeful this will move forward due to interest expressed by individuals in SDAMPP, but no updates.

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c. Aligning expectations of grad and residency programs In June 2017, CAMPEP circulated a survey to PD in June 2017 which

primarily sought to determine if PDs perceived significant variations in the preparation of incoming residents depending on the CAMPEP-accredited graduate or certificate program completed by the resident.

81.1% of PD responded (representing 86 of 106 accredited programs at the time), and based on their responses, 20% of PD indicated that they believe there is a need for improvement in the preparation of the six core areas identified in AAPM TG197S by candidates.

EC was asked whether the members believed we needed to make improvements/changes (i.e., recommendations in the curriculum for grad and certificate programs).

ETC is being asked to work on this issue to see if anything needs to be improved and what we would recommend

Jay indicated this would be something that his WG could review and discuss. Joann will share the survey results with Jay and his team.

d. Students wanting ABR certification even if they go into non-clinical careers ETC requested clarification on this topic. Per James Dobbins:

“The issue was that there are students taking the ABR certification process and looking for residencies as a kind of safety net even though they intend on a non-clinical career. This just leads to a logjam in the residency process with students who intend on non-clinical careers. They want to hedge their bets by doing the residency/ABR route even though they want to work in industry or academia. Perhaps there is nothing we can do about this, but I think the issue was raised for discussion and consideration.”

Maybe the question is "What is the proper preparation for a medical physics student to pursue a non-clinical career?”

Number of residencies not sufficient for all graduate students. If industry is interested in having students with residency training, maybe they should fund some residency slots.

o Vendor would be involved in the decision for selecting the candidate.

o A similar process is in place for VA hires. John suggested this proposal could be developed into a white paper.

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II. New Businessa. Program Spotlight and annual meeting proposal (Stanley)

Program spotlight – ongoing series proposed for graduate and residency programs to showcase their programs. SC would reach out to PD to determine if they are interested in participating. There is a simple application process with questions including interesting/exciting aspects of the program. Programs would be highlighted a routine basis, e.g., weekly or biweekly, depending on the response. Program spotlights would not be run Jan – March.o This would be supplementary to the blog postso Designed for Facebook and Tweetero The spotlights would undergo ETC review/approval through

Hootesuite similar to the STSC blogs Question format is available for review in attachment.

o To ensure consistency, STSC would provide an example post to PD

Annual meeting proposal – SC would like to advertise student related events on social media during the annual meeting. They have developed sample posts/pictures, and they would like to request pre-approval. Example posts are available for review in attachment.

b. Follow-up from EC retreat Liaisons with industry, clinical training of industry personnel,

internships, entrepreneurship, business training for grad students (WG MP GEPC, PC? Ad hoc on industry needs?)o Update for 197 will involve a review of curricular needs to help

students prepare for non-clinical careers. Additionally, Jay has been involved in discussions through SDAMPP on industry internships.

o Promotion of these internship should perhaps be reserved for industry.

o The WG on non-clinical careers reached out to the career posting website for a posting topic on non-clinical opportunities. The STSC will advertise these positions through their blogs.

EC has requested the Working Group on Medical Physics Graduate Education Program to consider this when working on the update to 197

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o As indicated above, the Working Group on Medical Physics Graduate Education Program will discuss curricular needs for those interested in a non-clinical career

Standardization of DMP programs (ETC)o Jay developed an outline for the white paper, and has reached

out to WG chair and vice-chair to develop this outline further. c. Update from the recently reactivated Imaging Physics Residency

Workgroup No time to discuss

d. Location of Working Group on a Professional Doctorate Degree for Medical Physics (WGPDDMP) in committee tree? Should it be moved up one level? ETC was to make a suggestion (ETC) WG currently under the Medical Physics Residency Training and

Promotion SC No time to discuss

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Post #1: Introduction to Non-Clinical Careers and General Advice

Introduction

Medical physics started as a clinical profession; however, its unique training has allowed its students to pursue an ever-expanding number of careers. Despite this expansion, the best-guided path is the clinical career path. Information, guidance, and additional training for non-clinical careers remains sparse and less than 50% of students (median: 3.3 years of experience with medical physics; 165 respondents) feel knowledgeable about their non-clinical career options [1].

Student unawareness of non-clinical careers is, in part, because current medical physics graduate programs are heavily biased towards clinical careers. Many programs are staffed by physicists who hold primary appointments as clinical medical physicists. The remaining faculty tend to be made up of physicists working in academic research. This means that students are well prepared and knowledgeable about those two career paths, but not as knowledgeable about other careers. Residency programs, by their nature, are not incentivized to discuss or train their residents on non-clinical topics. Most programs strive to obtain (or maintain) Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP) accreditation, which is focused on the clinical training of medical physicists. Thus, non-clinical training is not prioritized and students are not necessarily informed of all the opportunities open to them as they enter the world of medical physics.

Although students are primarily educated about their clinical opportunities, there is no guarantee that students will be able to pursue an American Board of Radiology (ABR) -certified clinical career. In 2014, the ABR required that students that entered into the ABR process to complete a CAMPEP-accredited residency program prior to their eligibility for full board certification. This improved and standardized clinical training, but also limited the number of physicists able to become ABR certified. In 2015, CAMPEP reported that 332 students graduated with a master's degree, doctoral degree, professional doctorate, or certificate; yet there were only 112 residency positions that participated through the MedPhys Match [2,3]. This disparity demonstrates the need to educate medical physics students about non-clinical career opportunities available.

To address this unmet need, the Working Group to Promote Non-Clinical Careers in Medical Physics (WGNCMP) was formed. The mission of WGNCMP is to investigate opportunities for trained medical physicists outside of the clinic, and to disseminate this information as well as the necessary training to obtain these positions. This series of blog posts is intended to educate current and potential medical physicists about the options available to them beyond clinical physics and includes comparisons to the career of a board certified clinical physicist and entry requirements for these alternative careers.

General Advice

The 2015 AAPM Professional Survey reports that 81% of its members work in primarily clinical roles [4]. The remaining 19% work primarily in academic, administrative, regulatory, or industrial roles. However, it is unclear how many non-AAPM physicists work in non-clinical roles in fields that could be considered as part of medical physics. A separate report from the Centers for Health Workforce Studies

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discusses an independent model for non-clinical medical physicists [5]. In this report, it is noted that board certification is typically not a requirement for employment, and that specialization in a category such as therapy or diagnostic imaging isn’t as prevalent. The lack of certification and specialization requirements may make non-clinical jobs potentially easier to obtain, while frequently offering comparable pay and potentially better work-life balance to clinical positions. Non-clinical career paths are open to physicists with either a master’s or doctoral degree. These factors make non-clinical careers attractive to those physicists who are not exclusively interested in a clinical career. Additionally, physicists looking to change career paths from clinical to non-clinical do not face the same “administrative” hurdles as one trying to go in the reverse direction.

In a series of interviews with professional non-clinical medical physicists, three common skills were stressed as a requirement of applicants: communication, interpersonal skills, and organization [6]. Communication includes being able to send effective, efficient, and courteous e-mails, present research to both fellow scientists and to a law audience, and write technical reports. Interpersonal skills include effective and professional interaction with co-workers, customers, and others. Organization is the efficient use of time, budget, and other resources and is an important quality for communicating with others. These skills are important for any career - clinical or non-clinical - and can be developed during training. Those surveyed recommended that students practice these skills while still in school and ask for feedback and criticism from both mentors and fellow students. Individual career paths require additional training, which will be described in depth in the blog posts to follow.

References:

[1] Tanny, S., Roth, A., Peeler, C., Rodrigues, A., and Ready, J. SU-E-E-04: Assessment of Medical Physics Students and Trainees Interest and Awareness of Non-Clinical Careers. American Association of Physicists in Medicine (2015), DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1118/1.4923926. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4m2DyLfzC1EQm5GRGx4TTE4czQ/view.

[2] Clark, B. (2016). CAMPEP Graduate Program Report. Washington, D.C. http://campep.org/2015AnnualGraduateReport.pdf

[3] AAPM (2015). MedPhys Match: The Medical Physics Matching Program Summary Results of the MedPhys Match for Positions Beginning in 2015. Ontario, Canada. https://natmatch.com/medphys/stats/2015stats.pdf

[4] AAPM (2016). Professional Survey Report Calendar Year 2015. https://www.aapm.org/pubs/protected_files/surveys/AAPM-Salary15.pdf

[5] Center for Health Workforce Studies (2010). Workforce Study of Medical Physicists in the U.S. Rensselaer, NY. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0By99blgCWNLxMmIwVERiSFk5Qnc

[6] WGNCMP interviews with professionals including: Maryann Abogunde, Michael Boss, David Catarious, Sandra Gabriel, Matthew Japzon, Paul Naine, Robert Saunders, Peter Scully, Jie Shi, and

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Michelle Svatos. These professionals worked at the National Institute of Science and Technology, US National Regulatory Commission, US Department of Energy, US Navy, Elekta, Duke University, National Foundation for Cancer Research, Sun Nuclear, and Varian at the time of their interviews.

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Post #2: Non-Clinical Careers in Industry

Industry careers combine the knowledge of modern health-care delivery with scientific research, product development, and experimental design. Jobs are often in one of three primary areas: research and development, sales, or customer support. Research and development physicists create new and innovative products and may work at a managerial or individual product level. Sales people assist customers in acquiring the best products to address their needs and communicate unmet customer needs to their employer. Customer support physicists are involved in installation, training, and troubleshooting clinical devices.

The skillset needed within the medical industry, although sharing many similarities to medical physics education, requires a greater focus on specific areas to make a candidate more desirable to an industrial corporation. Physicists need to understand physics, software development, and clinical implementation. This is an iterative cycle to make a safe, quality, and reliable product. More specifically, the ability to work fluently with open-source computer programming languages (Python, Ruby, Javascript) and relate it to clinical applications is a skill highly sought after by industrial employees. Analytical skills along with a working knowledge of statistically related concepts, such as Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Statistical Process Control (SPC) are valuable. For employment directly related to research and development, a working knowledge of the regulatory standards governing medical equipment is important; specifically, knowledge of guidance documentation produced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The most desirable soft skills are the ability to present and communicate effectively, the capacity to work well as a member of a functioning team, and a knowledge of basic finance to aid in product decision making [1].

To gain employment within an industrial setting, it is important to have completed at least one large, comprehensive project that demonstrates a strong command of advanced scientific and industrial comprehension. Ideally, the project will be relatable to the clinical health care environment, employ the use of quantitative data to represent a result and answer a clearly defined objective at the completion of the project. The use of computer programming within a research project is desirable. In many instances, research projects completed to satisfy the requirements of a master’s or doctoral degree will meet these criteria, although it may be advantageous to demonstrate a repertoire of completed projects.

Opportunities to sample a career in industry can be found in the form of internships as several large medical physics companies offer paid internships for students. While many industry careers do not require a doctoral degree, it is regarded highly by many industrial employers. Board certification is often not required, but demonstrable clinical experience is sought after. Participating in a clinical internship often provided by medical physics graduate programs is a great way to satisfy this requirement.

An alternative pathway from graduate studies to industry is the I-Corps program offered by both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) [2] and the National Science Foundation (NSF) [3]. This program seeks to commercialize promising academic research and give academic researchers valuable entrepreneurial experience. Additionally, the NIH offers seed funding mechanisms such as the SBIR and

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STTR that allow graduate students to perform collaborative research with industry during graduate school [4].

The salaries of industrial career physicists approach that of clinical physicists. The average self-reported salary of physicists working in industry range from $156,900 for uncertified physicists with a master’s degree (median 10 years of experience) to $217,100 for board-certified physicists with a doctoral degree (median 17 years of experience) based on the 2015 AAPM Professional Survey Report. Additional advantages of working in industry include standard work hours and the ability to positively affect clinical practice.

References:

[1] WGNCMP interviews with professionals including: Maryann Abogunde, Michael Boss, David Catarious, Sandra Gabriel, Matthew Japzon, Paul Naine, Robert Saunders, Peter Scully, Jie Shi, and Michelle Svatos. These professionals worked at the National Institute of Science and Technology, US National Regulatory Commission, US Department of Energy, US Navy, Elekta, Duke University, National Foundation for Cancer Research, Sun Nuclear, and Varian at the time of their interviews.

[2] https://sbir.cancer.gov/programseducation/icorps

[3] https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/i-corps/

[4] https://sbir.cancer.gov/funding/opportunities/SBIR-STTR-omnibus-solicitation

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Post #3: Non-Clinical Careers in Academic Research & Education

Academic medical physicists pursue research and educational activities. Their research is often focused on improving disease diagnosis and/or treatment. Many of these academic scientists work with advanced, experimental technology and adapt it for use in the clinic to benefit patients. In a university setting, these physicists may work in medical physics, physics, medical (oncology, radiology), or engineering departments. As such, they may be teaching medical physics and related subjects to future medical physicists or to a larger population within these departments. Different positions have a range of teaching, clinical, research, professional development, and administrative duties. A new trend in higher education is the introduction of a faculty track that emphasizes teaching over research as undergraduates are best taught by teaching-focused (rather than research-focused) faculty [1]. Additionally, there are positions outside of universities that physicists may pursue including positions at large research facilities (e.g., National Cancer Institute (NCI), research hospitals) or positions teach physics at high schools.

Like other researchers, these physicists are primarily funded through grants. In the United States, the NCI and National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have active grant programs and provide significant funding for medical physics and cancer treatment researchers. Funding is highly competitive with success rates for R01 and R21 grants for the NCI at 12.5% and 8.0% respectively in 2017 [2]. NIBIB applications had success rates of 19.2% and 8.5% for R01 and R21 grants respectively for the same year.

for R01 and R21 grants (the most popular research grants) for the NCI and NIBIB at 10-15% in 2015 (NIH). The success rate is often lower for new investigators who do not have an extensive publication record, but new grant mechanisms have been developed specifically for these researchers. Additionally, the university at which the academic medical physicist is based will often provide start-up funds that can help establish a research program. Grants may also be obtained from private companies or philanthropic organizations looking to fund certain research projects that align with their interests. Finally, some researchers receive funds for teaching students in the classroom as well as their laboratory.

Physicists hoping to pursue academic research should be prepared to teach and perform research. Graduate students can gain teaching experience through a variety of activities including working as a teaching assistant, providing guest lectures, and tutoring. When applying for teaching positions, candidates will be expected to provide a teaching philosophy, sample syllabus, and lecture in a relevant topic. It is recommended that interested candidates seek resources to help develop each of these items. While graduate schools provide research experience, additional experience in the form of a 1 to 3 year post-doctoral (post-doc) fellowship is often required to competitively pursue tenure-track research positions. One alternative to the traditional post-doc is a hybrid clinical medical physics residency and research program (guidelines for such programs are being developed by AAPM Task Group No. 278). The aim of these programs are to prepare medical physics trainees for both clinical and academic and/or research careers.

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The degree requirements for academia are typically a doctoral degree for research positions and, at minimum, a master’s degree for teaching positions. Teaching high school physics typically requires a pedagogical degree, such as a Bachelor of Education or, more commonly, a Master of Education. This may be unnecessary, however, for private schools and many states now provide alternative licensure pathways for physics teachers with advanced degrees.

According to the 2015 AAPM Professional Survey Report, approximately 7% of members who responded to the survey (173) work primarily in academic positions (many more are primarily clinical with some academic duties) [3]. These include 6 certified members with a master’s degree, 76 uncertified members with a doctoral degree, and 91 certified members with a doctoral degree. The average self-reported salary for these members ranged from $141,600 for uncertified doctoral degree-holders (median 17 years of experience) to $197,600 for certified doctoral degree-holders. In Canada, certified doctoral degree-holders working primarily in academia include 7 individuals reporting an average of $172,700 in primary income (median 30 years of experience). It should also be noted that in recent years, the academic job market has become increasingly competitive. A recent study shows that only 12.8% of doctoral degree graduates can obtain academic positions in the USA [4]. As mentioned above, high school teaching is also a possible employment option. As of 2013, the USA average salary for a high school teacher was $56,383 (for a 9-month contract); however, salary ranges widely depending on geographic location [5].

References:

[1] American Association of University Professors (2014). Tenure and Teaching-Intensive Appointments.

[2] National Institutes of Health (2018). Research Project Grants and Other Mechanisms Competing Applications, Awards, Success Rates and Total Funding. https://report.nih.gov/success_rates/index.aspx


[4] Larson, R.C., Graffarzadegan, N., and Xue, Y. Too Many PhD Graduates or Too Few Academic Job Openings: The Basic Reproductive Number R0 in Academia. Syst Res Behav Sci. 31(5): 745-750. January, 2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4309283/

[5] National Center for Education Statistics (2013). Estimated average annual salary of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools, by state: Selected years, 1969-70 through 2012-13. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_211.60.asp

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Post #4: Non-Clinical Careers in Radiation Safety and Health Physics

Health Physics positions revolve around the effects of radiation on human health; typically, for the protection of populations from the risks of ionizing radiation. Health physicists monitor doses, and design and implement new measures for controlling dose. Health physicists typically work at nuclear power plants, pharmaceutical companies, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and hospitals. However, health physicists are also actively recruited to serve in other government agencies (e.g., US State Department, the US Central Intelligence Agency) and other civilian organizations. For those employed in a hospital setting, the job title tends to be of a Radiation Safety Officer (RSO), but the job description is very similar. Health physics is also a field of active research.

To best prepare for a career in health physics, medical physics students should take all health physics classes available to them and investigate occupational and environmental health safety courses as health physicists often work closely with environmental and occupational health safety workers. For early exposure to health physics careers, internships are available at nuclear power plants, pharmaceutical companies, and other sites that employ health physicists. Further experience can be gained through health physics research, personal radiation dose monitoring, attending radiation safety meetings on campus or at a hospital, and reading of relevant publications (e.g., ICRP, NCRP, ICRU, Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulation).

In most cases, a master’s degree is sufficient to work as a health physicist or Radiation Safety Officer. Certification is not necessarily required, both certification by the American Academy of Health Physics (Certified Health Physicist, CHP) and the ABR may be expected or required. For example, many radiation safety workers at hospitals have some responsibility as a standard clinical medical physicist and, therefore, having completed the ABR certification process may be helpful or expected. To work purely as a health physicist, being a CHP may be beneficial or required.

Health Physicists tend to earn less than clinical medical physicists, but have more standard work hours with less stress. According to the 2015 AAPM Professional Survey, medical physicists performing health physics duties with a master’s degree and without certification (median 9 years of experience) self-reported an average salary of $100,300 [1]. This self-reported salary increased to $154,100 for physicists with a master’s degree and certification (certification type unspecified; median 20 years of experience). For physicists with a doctoral degree and certification, the self-reported average salary was $172,800 (median 28 years of experience).

References:


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Post #5: Non-Clinical Careers in Regulation

A career in regulation can include many different roles at different government agencies including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). At the FDA, medical physicists work as scientific reviewers of the safety and effectiveness of new or modified diagnostic imaging, radiation therapy, and imaging processing devices prior to entry in the market. Physicists may also be involved in the development of new policies and regulations. Some positions at the NRC include licensing new medical devices, inspecting hospital compliance with regulations, and setting new licensing guidelines for emerging technologies. Physicists employed at NIST primarily work on providing calibration standards for ionization chambers and electrometers used for radiation oncology and nuclear medicine, but also work on phantom standardization and other projects.

The need for supplemental training for regulatory positions depends on the position. For a career at the FDA or NRC, clinical regulations experience is highly valued. There are, however, graduate student experiences in regulation including helping with machine quality assurance, attending radiation safety meetings, volunteering for root cause analysis or event investigation teams, and reading NRC and FDA reports (e.g., event reports, significant enforcement actions, information notices). Additionally, students may encounter regulatory aspects in their research, especially in research focused on areas using radioactive materials regulated by the NRC or machines regulated by the FDA. Finally, additional coursework to pursue include health physics, radiation detection, and regulation.

Careers at the NRC typically require a master’s degree and additional certifications such as American Board of Radiology (ABR) and Certified Health Physicist (CHP), while beneficial, are not required. NIST strongly recommends applicants have a doctoral degree and does not have a history of additional certifications. The FDA has positions for physicists with masters’ and doctoral degrees. In all of these positions, an understanding and experience of clinical applications is highly recommended. This experience could range from completing a residency (CAMPEP accredited or not), volunteering at a clinic, attending radiation safety meetings, and being involved with the clinic or regulations as part of a research project. Additionally, all of these agencies offer internship programs for students to gain experience in regulation.

The salary and benefits for the FDA, NIST, and NRC are typically less than that of a clinical position, but the benefits for federal employees are recognized as some of the best in the country and many of these positions include travel, flexible work hours, and a satisfying work-life balance [1]. According to the 2015 AAPM Professional Survey, medical physicists performing primarily regulatory and standards duties with a master’s degree and without certification (median 5 years of experience) self-reported an average salary of $125,400 [2]. This self-reported salary increased to $175,600 for physicists with a master’s degree and certification (certification type unspecified; median 23 years of experience). For physicists with a doctoral degree with certification, the self-reported average salary was $158,400 (median 14 years of experience).

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References

[1] WGNCMP interviews with professionals including: Maryann Abogunde, Michael Boss, David Catarious, Sandra Gabriel, Matthew Japzon, Paul Naine, Robert Saunders, Peter Scully, Jie Shi, and Michelle Svatos. These professionals worked at the National Institute of Science and Technology, US National Regulatory Commission, US Department of Energy, US Navy, Elekta, Duke University, National Foundation for Cancer Research, Sun Nuclear, and Varian at the time of their interviews.


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Post #6: Non-Clinical Careers in Science Policy and Writing

Science Policy

Science policy careers are found on Capitol Hill, within government agencies, and at universities. There is an ever-increasing need for research-trained scientists to contribute to the creation of the policies which regulate and guide scientific and medical fields. Knowledge of the scientific process and science writing skills gained during graduate school can be directly applied in this area.

Physicists are well suited for careers in policy not only because of their scientific training, but their ability to break down complex problems into neat and succinct arguments. Experience with coding and engineering can also develop these analytical skills. Writing, especially for a general audience, is another important skill to hone.

Typically, further training in policy-related topics is necessary in order to make a proper transition into this career path, but fortunately, there are resources available which can assist in providing such experience. Several fellowships exist specifically to give scientists and engineers an introduction to the creation and implementation of policy including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Institute of Physics (AIP) State Department Fellowship Program [1]. These fellowship programs are highly competitive, so students interested in pursuing a career in policy should begin seeking out leadership experience within their graduate programs and/or professional societies early in their graduate career.

No additional certification is necessary for most positions. Positions within a university setting may require a doctoral degree.

The starting salary of policy careers is far less than that of a clinical physicist average $70,000 (range: $50,000-100,000, all experience levels) [3], but it can be a very satisfying career as there is an immediate application in policy to your work opposed to the long process to see your research come to fruition. Travel may be another benefit of the job.

Science Writing

Science writers are primarily responsible for educating a non-scientific audience about scientific research. Science writers often work at universities, national laboratories, non-profit foundations, and media outlets. A science writer at a non-profit foundation relays the achievements of scientists who receive grants from the foundation to donors, patients, and other non-scientists. Every piece of communication in this case has a fundraising component. As a science writer working in a journalist role, articles or media pieces would be about translating science for a lay audience. Science writing positions allow the writer to follow science broadly outside of medical physics.

To best prepare for a job as a science writer (or communicator) students should take advantage of writing, reviewing, and presenting their work as a part of their education and research. Outside of an

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educational environment, students can practice these skills by maintaining a journal or blog for public consumption. Students should begin by following science outside of their area of research and practice summarizing it. There are also workshops and fellowships that students may attend to hone their writing skills.

While a PhD is not necessary, it may be a bonus. The salary is far less than that of a clinical physicist with an average of $82,600 (range: $60,000-106,000, all experience levels included) [2], but the job is typically constrained to a 40-hour work week, travel may be included, and the work is fulfilling.

References:

[1] https://www.state.gov/e/stas/fi/

[2] Glassdoor Science Writer Salaries in United States. https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/us-science-writer-salary-SRCH_IL.0,2_IN1_KO3,17.htm

[3] Glassdoor Science Policy Salaries in United States. https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/us-science-policy-salary-SRCH_IL.0,2_IN1_KO3,17.htm

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Post #7: Non-Clinical Careers in Medical Physics conclusions and resources

Conclusions

Pursuing an ABR-certified clinical career is not for every medical physicist. Additionally, due to the disparity between the number of graduates and the available number of residency positions, it may not an option for all graduating medical physics students. Fortunately, there is a wide range of fulfilling, impactful careers outside of the clinic in medical physics. Many graduate programs have emphasized clinical careers, however early efforts are being made and directors recognize the need for further development of non-clinical career education. Surveyed graduate program directors stated that their programs were helping to prepare students for non-clinical careers through a variety of activities including: running research projects similar to a company’s R&D division, providing professional development series, career panels, career days, grantsmanship development, internships, business classes, training in radiation protection, internship alternative to clinical rotations, student presentations, close partnerships with industry and other non-clinical career personnel, non-clinical career seminar series, and a non-ABR compliant coursework track [1]. Some programs are affiliated with non-medical physics departments such as nuclear engineering or biomedical engineering thereby exposing their students to a wider array of coursework, research, and opportunities.

Several program directors identified the need for career counseling for students, however stressed that they cannot teach what they do not know. The AAPM and the Society of Directors of Academic Medical Physics Programs (SDAMPP) have been called upon to provide suggestions for how to best inform students about non-clinical careers. This series of blog posts was intended to introduce non-clinical career opportunities for medical physics graduates with the purpose of increasing awareness and initiating further discussion and documentation in this area.

Further resources

The Working Group to Promote Non-Clinical Careers in Medical Physics (WGNCMP) is a working group under the Students and Trainee Subcommittee (STSC). At the annual meeting, the STSC puts on a number of clinical, non-clinical, and general medical physics events targeting students and trainees including the Annual Student Meeting, Residency Fair, Career Expo, Student Night Out, Interview Workshop, and more. At the 2015 AAPM Annual Meeting, WGNCMP presented a poster about the Assessment of Medical Physics Students and Trainees Interest and Awareness of Non-Clinical Careers. The poster is still available for viewing at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4m2DyLfzC1EQm5GRGx4TTE4czQ/view. At the 2016 Annual Meeting, the WGNCMP hosted a career networking lunch in collaboration with WGSTR. For more information, visit our AAPM page (http://www.aapm.org/students/). The STSC is happy to address any questions and concerns and may be contacted through their AAPM website (http://www.aapm.org/org/structure/default.asp?committee_code=SPASC).

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The Working Group on Student and Trainee Research (WGSTR) is a student-led working group promoting the development of young scientists with a keen interest in research. The objective of this working group is to initiate or promote activities aimed at enhancing and broadening pre-doctoral research. The working group will act as a platform to connect students and trainees that share interest in research-related topics in medical physics in order to gather feedback concerning research-oriented education. WGSTR also puts on events at the annual meeting including a student research luncheon, undergraduate Society of Physics (SPS) poster session, and symposia. For more information visit http://www.aapm.org/org/structure/default.asp?committee_code=WGSTR.

The Society of Directors of Academic Medical Physics Programs (SDAMPP) recently released a Student Guide to a Medical Physics Career. It walks through the clinical preparation for a career in medical physics and can be found here: http://www.sdampp.org/documents/SDAMPPStudentGuideToAMedicalPhysicsCareer.pdf.

[1] Tanny, S., Roth, A., Peeler, C., Rodrigues, A., and Ready, J. SU-E-E-04: Assessment of Medical Physics Students and Trainees Interest and Awareness of Non-Clinical Careers. American Association of Physicists in Medicine (2015), DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1118/1.4923926. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4m2DyLfzC1EQm5GRGx4TTE4czQ/view.

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Documents

Minutes… · Web view81.1% of PD responded (representing 86 of 106 accredited programs at the time), and based on their responses, 20% of PD indicated that they believe there is