Training Overview
Clinical Training
The two-year program provides a structured rotation schedule covering all aspects of therapeutic medical physics with direct supervision by board-certified medical physicists. The clinical training program combined with the academic environment at UCLA is designed to fully prepare the candidate for a successful career in clinical medical physics.
The UCLA Radiation Oncology medical physics group is an integral part of the educational mission in the David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine including a formal medical residency program and the CAMPEP accredited UCLA Physics and Biology in Medicine Graduate Program.
Clinical training consists of structured clinical rotations progressing our residents through increasingly advanced technologies and techniques to provide a well-rounded clinical education.
- Machine QA
- Treatment Planning I and II
- Radiosurgery
- MR in Radiotherapy
- Brachytherapy I and II
- Adaptive RT / Varian Ethos
- Veterans Affairs I and II
- Clinical Development / Elective Specialty
- Full practice
Additionally, radiation safety topics are covered throughout training and specialty topics are included for each rotation.
Sample Rotation Schedule
| July- Aug | Sept-Oct | Nov-Dec | Jan-Feb | Mar-Apr | May-June |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orientation & Clinical Workflows | Treatment planning | Advanced Treatment Planning | SRS | VA I | MRgRT |
| Brachy I | VA II | Adaptive RT & Ethos | Brachy II | Clinical Projects | Full Practice |
Didactic Training
Regular didactic seminars, lectures and conferences are offered including:
- Treatment site-specific Radiation Oncology Clinical Didactic Lecture Series (ROCDLS)
- Multidisciplinary tumor boards and Chart rounds
- Annual Lecture Series in Physics, Radiobiology, and Radiopharmaceuticals designed for preparing medical residents for ABR written physics boards
- Practice-based Clinical Enrichment Series
- Resident Peer-to-Peer Series
- Board Preparation Study and Discussion Session
CAMPEP accredited UCLA Physics and Biology in Medicine (PBM) Graduate Program (formerly known as Biomedical Physics) which offers a certificate program and the following supplemental didactic courses
- Introductory Radiation Biology
- Physics of Diagnostic Radiology
- Fundamentals of Dosimetry
- Physic of Radiation Therapy
- Radiologic Functional Anatomy
- Physics and Chemistry of Nuclear Medicine