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Radiation Therapy Physics Residency

 

The purpose of the residency is to provide the training necessary for the medical physics resident to become an independent academic clinical medical physicist in radiation therapy. This is achieved through a 3 year residency program, with two years focused on clinical training (preparing the resident for certification by the American Board of Radiology (ABR)), and a third research year, giving the resident the opportunity to establish a research path which can be expanded and further explored upon graduation from this program. The research year has proven to be an advantage when seeking employment.

The Beaumont University Hospital (Corewell Health) radiation therapy physics residency is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP). The program follows all CAMPEP guidelines. The residency consists of over 20 carefully structured rotations covering the full range of medical physics practice. The curriculum provides comprehensive, mentored, hands-on experience, and progressive responsibility providing the opportunity to work towards becoming fully independent by the time residents complete the program. 

The program currently supports three residents. We do not anticipate any openings until early 2027.

Applicants should have a Masters or PhD in medical physics from a CAMPEP accredited program or a PhD in a closely related field and a certificate from CAMPEP. “A certificate program is a program of didactic coursework offered by a CAMPEP-accredited graduate or residency program, intended to enable individuals with a doctoral degree in physics or a related discipline to meet the didactic requirements needed to enter a CAMPEP-accredited residency program.” The Beaumont Medical Physics Residency is a clinical training program. The applicant is expected to have the necessary formal coursework in this field.

Application materials must include:

  • a cover letter introducing your application and explaining your career goals
  • a CV
  • three letters of reference (sent directly by the candidate’s references)
  • graduate transcripts

The Clinical Physics Division of Radiation Oncology is currently staffed with 20 physicists and 17 dosimetrists. We provide a full range of clinical services at three cancer centers at Royal Oak, Troy and Dearborn, including:

  • Proton therapy with pencil beam scanning (IBA ProteusOne superconducting synchrocyclotron)
  • IMRT
  • VMAT
  • SBRT
  • SRS (Gamma Knife and linac based)
  • IGRT and Adaptive RT (including Unity MR linac)
  • HDR/LDR brachytherapy, intravascular brachytherapy

The three centers maintain ten high-energy linear accelerators (Elekta), as well as Pinnacle, RayStation and Monaco planning systems and MOSAIQ OIS, three large bore CT scanners (Philips), one large bore PET-CT (Philips) and one large bore 3T MRI (Philips)., The accelerators have onboard cone beam imaging and VMAT delivery capability with six degree-of-freedom robotic tables. The Royal Oak hospital has an IBA ProteusOne synchrocyclotron for proton therapy with pencil beam scanning and an Elekta Icon Gamma Knife unit. An Elekta Unity MR linac recently began treating patients.  Extra imaging and localization devices in external beam radiotherapy include 4D real-time ultrasound and Active Breathing Control devices (Elekta). In addition, three Elekta HDR units with online planning systems, ultrasound units, and C-arms are utilized in the brachytherapy program. 

Corewell Health also has a medical residency program in radiation oncology and a dosimetry training program. 

Statistics

Academic YearNumber of ApplicationsNumber offered admissionsNumber enrolled in programNumber completing programDestination of graduates - clinicalDestination of graduates - academic
20163022000
2017002000
2018002000
20191533211
2020003000
20211903000
2022033312
2023003000
20244333303

Current Residents

Avery Peterson, Ph.D.

Dr. Avery Peterson graduated from Wayne State University in 2024 with his Ph.D. in Medical Physics. He embarked on a career in medical physics after obtaining a B.S. in both Physics and Astronomy & Astrophysics from the University of Michigan. Dr. Peterson’s Ph.D. research focused on dosimetry and theranostics in radiopharmaceutical therapy, culminating in his dissertation, titled “Improving the Accuracy and Practicality of Patient-Specific Dosimetry in 177Lu Radiopharmaceutical Therapies.” While working on his Ph.D., Dr. Peterson completed internships with MIM Software working with their nuclear medicine dosimetry team and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging working on the SNMMI’s Dosimetry Grand Challenge.


Braydon Halvorson, Ph.D.

Dr. Brayden Halvorson received his Ph.D. in Medical Biophysics from Western University in London, Ontario, in 2024. His doctoral research focused on microvascular flow regulation and the impact of metabolic disease, utilizing techniques such as laser Doppler flowmetry. Brayden has published eight first-author peer-reviewed papers and contributed abstracts to both national and international conferences. During his doctoral studies, he received a number of awards, including the CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Dr. Alfred Jay Award for Biological and Biophysical Systems Research. Additionally, he served as a teaching assistant and mentored several undergraduate and M.Sc. students in his lab.



Xiangkun Xu, Ph.D.

Dr. Xiangkun Xu earned his Ph.D. in Physics from University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, China. His doctoral research was on quantum control of single electronic spins in diamond for quantum information processing.  His passion for improving healthcare through the application of physics led him to pursue postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he developed quantitative bioluminescence tomography for guiding small animal radiation therapy. Subsequently, he joined the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and focused on developing compact fluorescence tomography for preclinical cancer research. During this time, he also completed a 2-year Medical Physics Certificate Program. Dr. Xu has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications and has been honored with several awards for his research, including the “Science Council Session Winner” from AAPM. Dr. Xu’s research interests are broad, spanning the fields of medical physics, optical imaging, and quantum physics.


Program Director

Patrick McDermott, Ph.D., FAAPM


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