Training for medical physicists is intense and time-consuming, and their responsibilities are enormous. But the payoff in terms of helping patients fight life-threatening diseases such as cancer is huge, according to experts from the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic.

Medical physicists may work in radiation oncology treating cancer, in diagnostic imaging with CT and MRI, or in nuclear medicine with PET or SPECT, according to Michael Herman, Ph.D., chair of the Division of Medical Physics at Mayo's Department of Radiation Oncology. Settings include hospitals, medical schools, clinics, and industry and research facilities.

Technology and patient care

"It's a career for somebody who has a lot of technical savvy and really wants to work in a field to apply their skills to help somebody," Herman says. "We're definitely involved in patient care. We work behind-the-scenes, too."

In radiation oncology, medical physicists calibrate and monitor radiation equipment, carefully measuring how much radiation the generator is producing. They must also know how the beam is being absorbed by the patient, according to Faiz Khan, Ph.D., professor emeritus of medical physics at the University of Minnesota and author of medical physics textbooks. "This is going to be very dangerous if there is an incorrect calibration. It can cause real complications that can actually destroy a patient," Khan explains. "This is the most important responsibility of the medical physicist. Physicians cannot do it. Engineers cannot do it."

Medical physicists also work with physicians in treatment planning, in quality assurance and in designing radiation rooms.

Education and training

To become a medical physicist, a student must earn a master's degree or Ph.D. in physics, medical physics, radiation biology or a related discipline, then complete a two- to three-year clinical residency program. The University of Minnesota and Mayo each have accredited residency programs in medical physics for radiation oncology. The websites of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (www.aapm.org) and the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (www.CAMPEP.org) list education programs throughout North America.

Training culminates with certification by the American Board of Radiology (www.theabr.org). The board has approved policies that require medical physics trainees to have graduated from an accredited education program (beginning in 2012) in order to take the certification exam. Starting in 2014, they must have enrolled in or completed an accredited residency program. These policies have education and residency programs scrambling for accreditation in a field where, before the 1990s, there was no standardized formal training program, according to Khan.

Currently, each residency program admits only two or three students per year due to financial constraints on medical institutions. Fully trained graduates may expect to earn about $100,000 a year, depending on location.

"There is a tremendous demand for qualified medical physicists," Khan says. "Before you finish your residency program, a lot of places are calling you to come in for interviews."

Nancy Crotti is a freelance writer who lives in St. Paul.