Medical Physics Residency – Therapeutic Radiological Physics

Welcome

A career in radiation oncology physics starts with a clinical training program which will prepare the medical physicist to become a competent, integral part of the radiation oncology care team. To this end, we welcome you to Allegheny Health Network’s Residency Program in Therapeutic Radiological Physics. More information about Allegheny Health Network is located on the Contact Us page.

Department

The radiation oncology department is consisted of Allegheny General Hospital Cancer Center and 13 remote facilities. Radiation delivery machines such as 15 Elekta Versa HD, 1 Varian Linac, 1 Elekta Unity MR-Linac, 1 Gamma Knife Icon, 1 GammaPod, and 5 Elekta Flexitrons. Treatment planning systems are GammaPlan, GammaPod planning system, Monaco, RayStation, Brainlab Element, and Oncentra. We have 15 4D Siemens CT scanners, and 1 4D PET/CT. We have 1 Vision RT and 11 ABC motion management systems.

AHN Cancer Institute at Allegheny General Hospital

Figure 1: AHN Cancer Institute at Allegheny General Hospital

interior photo of the AHN Cancer Institute lobby

Figure 2: AHN Cancer Institute lobby

Leksell Gamma Knife® Icon™

Figure 3: Leksell Gamma Knife® Icon™

Biograph Vison™ Siemens PET / CT Scanner

Figure 4: Biograph Vison™ Siemens PET / CT Scanner

Elekta Unity MR-Linac

Figure 5: Elekta Unity MR-Linac

Elekta Versa HD™ Linear Accelerator

Figure 6: Elekta Versa HD™ Linear Accelerator

Gammapod™ Stereotactic Body Radiation (SBRT) System

Figure 7: Gammapod™ Stereotactic Body Radiation (SBRT) System

Elekta Flexitron® Brachytherapy afterloading platform

Figure 8: : Elekta Flexitron® Brachytherapy afterloading platform

SOMATOM Confidence® RT Pro

Figure 9: SOMATOM Confidence® RT Pro

About the program

Our program was awarded two CAMPEP accreditations in March 2021. The residency is structured as a two-year training program. By the end of our program, physics residents will be ready to embark on a career in radiation oncology physics. They will be well prepared for their board examinations, and have experience in all the tasks required of a clinical physicist.

Our curriculum follows the recommendations of AAPM Report 249. Learning is structured as a hands-on apprenticeship and lectures, intended to support the resident in incrementally acquiring core competence to practice radiation oncology physics independently.

Residents will work through a series of clinical competencies and rotations including:

  • Clinical Orientation and Patient Management
  • Teletherapy Delivery
  • Instrumentation and Dosimetry Protocols
  • Teletherapy Treatment Planning I – 3D CRT
  • Brachytherapy Commissioning and QM, Delivery, and Treatment Planning
  • Teletherapy Treatment Planning II – IMRT/SBRT
  • Patient-specific Physics Services
  • Information Systems / EMR
  • Imaging for Simulation, Planning, Treatment Verification
  • Administrative and Professional
  • Clinical Program Development
  • Radiation Safety and Regulatory
  • Teletherapy Commissioning and QM
  • Special Procedures: IVBT, LDREye Plaques, TBI, TSET, GammapodTM, Gamma KnifeTM, Linac-based Cranial SRS/SRT, and MR-Linac Unity
  • Clinical Research & Clinical Service

Contact us

Brian King, PhD, DABR

Program Director, Medical Physics Residency - Therapy

Allegheny General Hospital
Medical Physics Residency Program Department of Radiation Oncology
320 East North Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

(814) 452-5400

Medphysresidency@AHN.org

About AHN

Allegheny Health Network is a Pittsburgh-based healthcare system. For more information about Allegheny Health Network see www.ahn.org. The Department of Radiation Oncology currently employs 5 PhD. physics faculty, 13
clinical physics staff, 20 dosimetrists, 2 physics residents, 23 MD radiation
oncology faculty, and 4 medical residents.  We plan to add more physicists to our staff in 2024.  The Division of Radiation Oncology currently treats over 3000 patients annually on 19 state-of-the-art treatment units (15 Elekta Versa HD and an Elekta Unity MR-Linac) and 5 Elekta HDR Flexitrons across 14 facilities.  Each facility houses a 4-D CT scanner.

The Therapy Residency Program is based at the new academic cancer center at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH), where houses the state-of-the-art machines including an Elekta Unity MR-Linac, two Elekta Versa HDs, Exactrac Robotic system, a Gamma Knife Icon, a GammaPod, and an Elekta HDR Flexitron.  Adding an MR simulator and possibly a research MR scanner are planned in near future. 

Figure 3: Leksell Gamma Knife® Icon™ is the stereotactic radiosurgery radiotherapy machine of Elekta Corporation
Figure 4: Biograph Vison™ is a PET/CT scanner of SIEMENS Healthineers
Figure 5: Elekta Unity MR-Linac is the MR-linear accelerator, a radiotherapy machine of Elekta Corporation
Figure 6: Elekta Versa HD™ is a linear accelerator, radiotherapy machine of Elekta Corporation
Figure 7: Elekta Flexitron® is a Brachytherapy afterloading platform of Elekta corporation
Figure 8: SOMATOM Confidence® RT Pro is a dedicated CT scanner for RT of SIEMENS Healthineers