2024 - 2025 Radiation Oncology Therapeutic Radiological Medical Physics Residents
Therapeutic Medical Physics Residency Program
Nashville, Tennessee
Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s CAMPEP accredited Medical Physics Residency program looks to continue to build on our over 25-year reputation of providing outstanding clinical training to our Residents in Therapeutic Medical Physics.
Our program operates outside of the NMS MedPhys Match Program and will begin interviews starting in October with offers being made by November 3, 2025. The program enthusiastically accepts both M.S. and Ph.D. residency candidates. Our overriding goal is to put the Resident on a path to becoming an ABR certified medical physicist through the following emphases:
Pair theoretical and experimental skillsets via the scientific method to solve technical and operational challenges encountered in Radiation Oncology
Equip the Resident with the tools and experiences required to navigate the changing role of the medical physicist in 21st century health care
Provide the Resident with a diverse array of real-world opportunities and exposure needed to both successfully work in a team setting and, if they so choose, eventually lead a medical physics group
Important Information for Upcoming Recruiting Cycle
Program Length: 2 years
Admitting 2 students for 2025-26 Academic Year to be a part of a team of 4 total Residents
A posting for the Residency Positions can be found in the AAPM Blue Book in the Career Services Section of the AAPM Website ( https://careers.aapm.org/jobs/)
We will also participate in the AAPM Virtual Fair in the early fall (dates not posted yet)
Applications for the 2025-2026 academic year are due by end of day, Friday, September 26, 2025
Qualified applicants will be sent interview requests that will take place on one of the following two dates:
Friday, October 17, 2025
Thursday, October 23, 2025
All interviews will be held virtually
Offers will be sent out by Friday, November 3, 2025
Application materials/requirements include:
MS or PhD from a CAMPEP accredited graduate program
Applicant’s Curriculum Vitae
Official Transcripts of Undergraduate and Graduate Work
Cover Letter/Personal Statement
3 Letters of Recommendation
Residency Curriculum Highlights
Rotations over the 2 years include:
- Clinic
Monthly QA exposure for all linear accelerator and CT scanner models in the department
Participation in 6 linear accelerator annuals
Completion of ~100 actual patient treatment plans
LDR and HDR treatment rotations including afterloader QA and source exchange
Satellite clinic work (2 weeks total)
Vault shielding design and calculation
6-8 special project rotations that last for several weeks focused on
Hardware installation, acceptance, and commissioning
Software upgrade implementation
Measurement projects focused on design and efficiency
Department strategic planning and growth
Didactics
8 ABR Part III Style Oral Exams
Radiation Safety Boot Camp Course
Treatment Planning Boot Camp Course
Leadership and Ethics Didactic course (3 semester hours) geared toward the medical physics field
12 Task Group Report presentations
Responsible for 4 Physics didactic lectures presented to Medical Residents
Research
Protected clinical research time (minimum of 4 weeks total)
2 abstract submissions to either a national or regional meeting
Attendance to national or regional meeting
Department Description
The Department of Radiation Oncology is staffed with seventeen board certified Medical Physicists (twelve Ph.D. and five M.S.) and eleven board-certified Dosimetrists. The Downtown Nashville location is equipped with four Varian linear accelerators: two TrueBeams, one Novalis TX SRS delivery system, and our second Ethos Adaptive Radiation Therapy (ART) unit. Two linacs are additionally equipped with BrainLab's ExacTrac Dynamic image guidance system, and we are currently in the process of adding a fifth vault to the facility which will hold a Varian Edge. Our four satellite facilities house five Varian linear accelerators (three TrueBeams, one Varian Clinac unit, and one Ethos) and are located within a 50-mile radius of the main facility in Nashville proper.
There are five installed VisionRT AlignRT surface imaging devices between those facilities as well. Additional clinical equipment includes (1) five CT Simulators (Philips, GE, and Siemens models, all with 4DCT capabilities); (2) two Varian Bravos HDR afterloaders (gynecological, intracavitary, interstitial, prostate, and skin treatments), (3) an intraoperative LDR seed implant program (prostate and eye plaque), and (4) an IntraOp Mobetron Intraoperative Radiation Therapy linear accelerator. Treatment planning systems include Varian Eclipse, Varian Ethos Treatment Planning System, BrainLab iPlan and Elements, Varian BrachyVision (HDR), and MIM Symphony for LDR Prostate plans. The Department also utilizes MIM Maestro and ProtégéAI+ for deformable image registrations and contour auto segmentation, respectively, and Radformation ClearCalc as its secondary dose calculation engine. Varian’s ARIA suite serves as the Department’s record and verify system and VUMC utilizes EPIC for electronic medical record management.
The department also houses our CAMPEP accredited graduate (through Vanderbilt University School of Medicine) and residency (through Vanderbilt University Medical Center) medical physics programs that all physics faculty and staff participate in either through teaching or research responsibilities.
About Vanderbilt - Ingram Cancer Center
One of 57 NCI designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers
Ranked in Top 10 in competitively awarded NCI funding
Provide care for over 7,000 new cancer patients each year
Access to over 350 clinical trials at any given time
More than 300 researchers and physician-scientists in eight research programs
About Nashville
Nashville is one of the fastest growing cities in the US and has all the amenities a major metropolitan area offers, including professional sports, first class art and theater venues, an outstanding array of restaurants, four true seasons with outstanding outdoor activities close by, and of course, one of the best music scenes in the world.
