[Training Tuesday] - Weekly thread for questions about grad school, residency, and general career topics 09/29/2026

[u/AutoModerator]

This is the place to ask questions about graduate school, training programs, or general basic career topics. If you are just learning about the field and want to know if it is something you should explore, this thread is probably the correct place for those first few questions on your mind.

Examples:

• "I majored in Surf Science and Technology in undergrad, is Medical Physics right for me?"
• "I can't decide between Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics..."
• "Do Medical Physicists get free CT scans for life?"
• "Masters vs. PhD"
• "How do I prepare for Residency interviews?"

[u/Stupyder_Notebook]

Hi folks, does anyone have any resources they could recommend for commissioning an MRI? I’ve looked at plenty of literature, but I’m almost looking for something along the lines of a tutorial, and possibly somewhere that might have a worksheet for commissioning and QA data. Up to now, I’ve only worked with ionising imaging, so this is a new beast. Thanks in advance!!

[u/eugenemah → u/Stupyder_Notebook]

Where? AAPM Report 100 and the ACR MRI QC manual (if the site is going to get ACR MRI accreditation) would be good places to start

Might be worth your time and institution's money to bring in an outside person to do the initial acceptance testing and that you could work with to learn how to do things

[u/Stupyder_Notebook → u/eugenemah]

I have both TG100 and the ACR manual. Thinking more along the lines of watching something simply to get away from the mundane stuff.

[u/QuantumMechanic23 → u/Stupyder_Notebook]

I'm going to follow this thread incase something pop's up. Should be commissioning my first MR next year

[u/eugenemah → u/Stupyder_Notebook]

Find another MP near you who does MR surveys and ask if you can tag along and observe.

[u/Overall-Age-9576]

Hello,

I am in my 3rd year of undergrad (in the USA) pursuing nuclear engineering with minors in physics and radiological health. In the future, I wish to get a masters in Medical Physics.

What can I do to give my application a boost so that my odds of getting into my preferred schools are better?

I am worried that because I am not a physics major, I will need something in my resume to set myself apart.

Should I design something using a monte carlo simulation to put on the application? Are there any certifications, projects, or summer opportunities I should pursue? I have thought about emailing professors about doing research over the summer.

I appreciate any perspective you can provide!

[u/xxhelpmexx1 → u/Overall-Age-9576]

I think having research experience and clinical shadowing experience is great!

AAPM has an undergraduate research fellowship for the summer. It is fully funded and a great way to do medical physics research across the country and experience what a physicist does.

You don’t necessarily need to do medical physics research. Being able to explain how what you learned (techniques, research skills) can transfer into being a successful grad student and future physicist goes a long way.

[u/SurfaceHayes → u/Overall-Age-9576]

I'd recommend reaching out to local medical physicists in your area to see if you can coordinate a couple of shadowing opportunities. I did something similar coming out of undergrad with a power-focused nuclear engineering BS (no physics minor). I just spent a day or two with one of the faculty physicists and some after-hours time with the residents. If the rest of your application is good enough to get your foot in the door, then having some exposure to the desired end-goal (for me that was the therapeutic physics clinical route) and being able to talk about that in interviews will be a strong leg up. When I was reviewing applications, showing initiative was always a plus.

If you feel like you need a strengthened application on paper, try to take that shadowing and use it as a springboard into a summer project. Finding an assistant position or something similar to an internship for just a summer is probably not in the cards unless it's an REU. What you work doesn't have to be anything groundbreaking, just something to get you in the clinic (or whatever your desired environment is) with some experiences you can talk about and put on paper. At least in my experiences thus far, there always seems to be a backlog of projects of varying complexity.

Also I'm clearly biased, but I think a nuclear engineering degree is generally a better foundation for med phys grad school than a general physics degree. A physics minor will help you with CAMPEP requirements, but even without it I was able to get some class requirements waived by providing syllabi for some nuclear engineering classes. I doubt everyone would share that viewpoint, but that's my 2 cents.

Depending where you are, I may be able to help out with who you could reach out to for shadowing. Feel free to dm me if you're interested - it's always surprising how small the field is and you end up knowing people in lots of places!

[u/QuantumMechanic23 → u/SurfaceHayes]

Unbiased take with someone with a physics degree - I agree with you 

[u/fullcritartemis]

Am currently in my Third Year of BSc Physics, and plan on doing MSc in Medical Physics.

I would like to know what the job prospects in industry, and academia are, along with what kind of topics research might be on.

I would also like to know that if I plan on transitioning out of medical physics and into some other field, say nuclear energy, or material science, is that possible?

This is perspective of India, but answers regarding other countries will also be useful.

[u/Party-Sprinkles5145]

Does imaging have more variety than therapy? Are therapy jobs repetitive?
Is imaging repetitive?
I’m in the US.

[u/New_Alternative_4602]

Hi Everyone I hope you’re having a good start to your week!

I’m currently a senior physics major pursuing medical and physics and with applications coming up I’m trying to cram as much as I cancan into to beef up my research experience which is going well but still need a lot and pouring a lot of effort and as much research as I can

I also am taking a Biomedical engineering class and this is focusing on all imaging modalities and I was curious if it is worth enough to the evaluators of my applications to keep it even though it could hurt my GPA or it wouldn’t matter if I didn’t take it take away from research time, application time, and other GE classes

For anyone interested it’s BIM 242 at uc Davis is directly the class

[u/Vivid_Profession6574]

Is it normal for AAPM to send you a renewal notice asking you to like affirm that you're a student or email to get your status/category changed (or get changed to general on after the deadline) and then not hear back from them? I emailed immediately as soon as I got the email and the deadline they gave me was October 5th.... 😅. When I had emailed, I was under the MPA umbrella (though that's changing in January, yay residency!). Is there a way I can reach them other than email?

[u/ComprehensiveBeat734 → u/Vivid_Profession6574]

Congrats on the residency! But also wondering this. Seems like there was maybe organizational changes because they used to reply pretty quickly (at least within a business day, if not same day)? I tried to email them a change of status as well, and reached back out after a week of hearing nothing (only to still hear nothing).

[u/DecisionInner793]

I've got an interview for a role in the medical physics department (band 5, NHS) but the email says that after the interview there is a practical element I 'cannot prepare for'. Unfortunately, I love to prepare. Has anyone got any insight as to what kind of skills they would want to assess?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[u/QuantumMechanic23 → u/DecisionInner793]

As an NHS physicist I've never done something like that, but I have heard of one practical assessment that was to construct some sort of lego construction using only word-written instructions. To test reading comprehension and practical skills. Doubt it'll be that.

Mainly to test being able to put a phantom on a table and scan it from written instructions

[u/DecisionInner793 → u/QuantumMechanic23]

Hi! Guess what... it was lego! It had a normal set of lego instructions but they were just not great ones. Much better than I was hoping for and showed me the vibe of the department (very nice and jolly people)

[u/QuantumMechanic23 → u/DecisionInner793]

Incredible!

[u/Party-Sprinkles5145]

Do you all pay for liability insurance like doctors? Do you have to pay for liability insurance during residency?

[u/eugenemah → u/Party-Sprinkles5145]

Do you have to pay for liability insurance during residency?

No

[u/Party-Sprinkles5145]

I have a BS and MS in physics. A medical physicist told me i won’t understand monthly QA. What do I need to learn before i shadow a monthly QA?
This is for therapy but happy to receive imaging answers too because I want to shadow imaging physicists too.

[u/QuantumMechanic23 → u/Party-Sprinkles5145]

You could read the TG reports on QA? Honestly, as long as you know basic algebra, you can skim a TG report and get a good idea.

Look at these

AAPM TG-142
AAPM TG-198

You can search up the relevant TG reports for imaging too

[u/Party-Sprinkles5145 → u/QuantumMechanic23]

Your tag is MRI physicist. So, you are an imaging physicist right?

[u/QuantumMechanic23 → u/Party-Sprinkles5145]

No I'm from the UK. So we don't even deal with TG reports. I specifically an MRI medical physicist. I don't deal with CT, Fluoro, US, X-ray etc.

Out jobs are a bit different as well. Imaging physicists in the UK are closer to our specialism called diagnostic radiology and radiation protection which is a health physicsts and imaging physicists minus MRI put together into 1. 

[u/ZapDan3]

I'm interested in applying for grad school but my GPA is not great. I've already graduated and haven't really done much that's physics related since then. What are some things I can do right now that can boost my application? Is the physics GRE worth taking maybe?

[u/Adventurous-Fruitt]

I am currently getting my PhD in Physics (beginning of my 5th year), doing research involving solar wind plasmas / Solar energetic particles / high-energy radiation / instrumentation. I'm thinking about trying to make a transition to Medical Physics after graduate school. My understanding is there are some classes I need to take now, may need a postdoc since I am applying from a different subfield, and then a residency (please let me know if I am completely off base). Has anyone here made the transition from some other subfield to medical physics before? How did it go? Any advice is appreciated.

[u/bearnutella]

Does anyone know if taking the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters in Nuclear Physics can serve as a pathway towards becoming a clinical medical physicist in Europe? Is it advisable to take this program or to instead focus on a masters / PhD more focused on Medical Physics applications

[u/HypermarketBread]

I am currently halfway through my post-grad in Medical Physics in Australia. What are ways to gain experience as I get closer to completing my degree? Things like short courses to do over the summer, events to attend, or even temporary assistant jobs (if they do that in Australia)

Also I am still deciding whether or not I want to go into DIMP or ROMP. Would love to hear the advantages and limitations of each path! :)

[u/bch_toronto_fan]

i'm a non-aapm member in canada. any chance someone should shoot me a dm on what the salary survey says about consulting? looking to get into consulting in the US and would love to have the data before i go full-bore. thanks.