Radiation therapy: Radiation dose distributions for intensity-modulated radiosurgery of spinal tumor. |
Nuclear medicine: Fusion of whole-body anatomical (CT) and function (PET) images. |
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1. Welcome from the Director
2. What is Medical Physics?
3. What makes the Duke Medical Physics Program unique?
4. Employment opportunities in Medical Physics
Welcome to the Medical Physics Graduate Program at Duke University. We appreciate your taking time to review our program and its academic offerings.
Our Medical Physics Graduate Program offers both M.S. and PhD degrees, and is an interdisciplinary program sponsored by five departments: radiology, radiation oncology, physics, biomedical engineering, and occupational and environmental safety (health physics). We offer four academic tracks: diagnostic imaging physics, radiation oncology physics, nuclear medicine physics, and health physics. We have a large faculty involved in medical physics research and clinical service, with a number of our colleagues being internationally recognized experts in their fields of scholarship. Areas of faculty expertise include magnetic resonance angiography, magnetic resonance microscopy, advanced digital imaging algorithms, detector and display characterization, computer-aided diagnosis, ultrasound, monoclonal antibody imaging and therapy, hyperthermia coupled with radiation therapy, image guided radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy, tumor and normal tissue radiation response modeling, optical-CT dosimetry and imaging, radiosurgery, high dose-rate brachytherapy, treatment optimization, SPECT and PET imaging, neutron-stimulated imaging, and dosimetry.
We offer a number of opportunities for research training, including an NIH training grant for PhD students and a thesis option for MS students. We are a CAMPEP-accredited graduate program, and have an optional summer clinical internship for MS students interested in additional clinical training.
Please contact us with any questions you may have. We look forward to receiving your application for graduate study at Duke.
Best wishes in your academic endeavors,
James T. Dobbins III, Ph.D.
Director, Medical Physics Graduate Program
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For more information, we recommend the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Public Education Website [external link] which addresses issues like: what is a medical physicist, the medical physicist in radiation therapy and diagnostic medical imaging, history of medical physics, etc.
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Radiation therapy: Radiation dose distributions for intensity-modulated radiosurgery of spinal tumor. |
Nuclear medicine: Fusion of whole-body anatomical (CT) and function (PET) images. |
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The most unique resource of the Duke Medical Physics program is the faculty. There are currently over 40 faculty members associated with the program from Radiology, Radiation Oncology, Physics, Biomedical Engineering and Radiation Safety, and many of these are internationally-recognized experts in their fields of study.
The Program has available one of the best Medical Centers in the United States, with outstanding facilities in Radiology and Radiation Oncology for the clinical training elements of the programs. There is state-of-the-art advanced imaging and radiation therapy equipment in the clinical departments. For example, we are one of the first beta sites to use the cone-beam CT on-line image guided radiation therapy system by Varian. We have 5 new Varian dual energy linacs with capability for dynamic intensity modulated radiation therapy. We also have a large radiosurgery program with Radionics micro-multi-leaf collimator.
State-of-the-art research laboratories exist as well, including 15,000 square feet in the Bryan Research Building, as well as the 7,000 square feet for the Duke Advanced Imaging Labs and 5,000 square feet for the Medical Physics Graduate Program in Hock Plaza (see picture). Existing equipment and facilities include radiation protection lab equipment (whole body counter, high resolution germanium gamma detector, Packard Liquid Scintillation Counter), dedicated equipment for radiation dosimetry, nuclear medicine cameras and scanners in PET and SPECT, digital imaging laboratories with dedicated equipment for physics and clinical research in digital radiography, the Center for In Vivo Microscopy, laboratories for monoclonal antibody imaging and therapy, excellent resources for MRI imaging (including a research MR scanner, the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, and the Center for Advanced Magnetic Resonance Development), ultrasound laboratories in BME, and an imaging laboratory for students in the BME department.
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Graduates trained in Medical Physics enjoy a wide variety of employment opportunities. Students at the Ph.D. level with interest in academic careers will find jobs as faculty members in departments of Medical Physics, Radiology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, Physics or Nuclear Engineering. Additionally, Ph.D. graduates may be employed in government labs or in industry. The research work of Ph.D. Medical Physics graduates is primarily in areas related to developing and evaluating new methods for the diagnosis and treatment of disease, and in new arenas such as molecular imaging and therapeutics, small animal imaging, and functional imaging. Any area of medical research that uses ionizing or non-ionizing radiation would require the involvement of physicists.
Ph.D. students trained with a specialty in Health Physics may find employment as Radiation Safety Officers at universities or large laboratories, or they may be employed as faculty in Health Physics training programs. Specialists in Health Physics will also help meet the growing demand for workers trained in radiation safety following the federal government's new initiatives in homeland security.
In addition to the academic and research job opportunities for Medical Physics graduates, there is also the career path of clinical physicist. Every hospital and clinic that uses radiation requires the services of individuals trained to maintain the diagnostic and therapeutic equipment needed to serve patients. Medical Physicists in Radiation Oncology also participate directly in clinical service by performing treatment planning for patients according to the treatment regimen prescribed by the Radiation Oncologist. In addition, clinical physicists are involved in active research to implement and develop novel therapies. Clinical physicists may be employed at the M.S. or Ph.D. level. The Duke Medical Physics Program would provide the specialized training necessary for graduates to become board-eligible clinical physicists if they so choose.
There are currently about 3000-4000 medical physicists in the U.S. The current need is for approximately 250-300 new medical physicists per year. In addition, about 50% of current medical physicists are over the age of 50, meaning that there is likely to be an increasing shortage in the coming years due to retirement. Thus, there is a healthy job market for medical physics graduates. Many of our recent MS graduates have found employment as junior physicists in clinical medical physics practices, or else have gone on to PhD study.
A critical shortage also exists in the supply of qualified radiation safety professionals throughout a broad spectrum of activities within the United States, including medical practice and research, regulatory oversight, academic research, environmental protection, occupational safety, and the research and application of nuclear technologies. A recent survey conducted by the Health Physics Society indicates that present demand for radiation safety professionals will continue to grow due to attrition in the next several years.
The salaries are excellent for graduating students trained in medical physics. Each year the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) produces an extensive salary survey. In a recent (2007) survey, the median salaries for medical physicists without board certification are $115,000 and $124,000 for those with M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, respectively. With board certification, these increase to $162,200 for M.S. and $175,000 for Ph.D. employees.
For more information, we recommend the AIP Career Network Website [external link].
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