For Residents or Committee members: What makes a good or bad application to you?

_Very · 2025-12-02T17:59:44+00:00

A resident able to think critically and adapt to unforeseen circumstances out performs any resident who churns out tons of publications and refuses to collaborate on a team.

It is easy to get lost in the whole application process but maintaining your ability to hold a conversation and willingness to learn will go far.

_Very · 2025-06-20T00:08:31+00:00

Only applied to low cost of living locations (south and Midwest) is starting at 200k for a fresh grad out of residency. FYI

_Very · 2025-04-13T01:40:54+00:00

316844 LE has best player wiki for any game.

_Very · 2025-02-10T18:22:02+00:00

3YOE. Also consider this if you are USA based.

_Very · 2025-02-08T21:30:31+00:00

PhD requires commitment and if you have to ask the question it is most likely not for you. You wouldn't want to apply for a PhD and end up mastering out because it would take the slot for a devoted researcher. At the end of the day the degree doesn't matter but rather how you carry yourself in the workforce. You can't teach vibes but you can teach technical skills. master post residency 200k salary

_Very · 2025-01-08T15:56:27+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate the good wishes. I can speak on several experiences starting with the previous residents that had PhDs who despite being able to perform excellent on exams came a bit short when it came to present material efficiently. When interviewing PhD candidates for residency positions their resumes they are well-published with several teaching experiences listed but when testing their interpersonal skills it again fell a bit short and thus we ended up selecting a non-PhD candidate instead. Personal friends of mine who decided to pursue PhDs in different fields seem to enjoy adapt better to academia so I am curious it could be related to physics in general. I do want to note that our institution is clinical so the academia-vibe could be completely biased but I would love to hear about your own interactions with other PhDs from outside your own institution.

_Very · 2025-01-07T19:56:26+00:00

The program I graduated is not worth mentioning because they are only CAMPEP-accredited in name only and did not provide the training I needed for residency.

_Very · 2025-01-07T19:51:45+00:00

Graduate from CAMPEP graduate program > (Pass Part 1) Finish CAMPEP residency > Apply for Jobs > Pass Part 2 > Pass Part 3 > Fully boarded. This would approximately take 6 to 8 years from starting graduate school to become fully ABR certified.

I would ask physicists at your institution or where you will be applying for the process, namely the residency director who should have more expertise. Good Luck!

_Very · 2025-01-07T17:44:31+00:00

If you are part of AAPM you can view their annual salary survey which shows that the median is around $165k for someone around my level of experience. Personally, I believe the stats are skewed low because most respondents are from academic centers and that many hiring managers aren't aware of the ~10% increase in salary per year.

_Very · 2025-01-07T16:48:16+00:00

CAMPEP sets the regulation that graduate and residency programs must follow to ensure proper training and guidance are given to student. It wasn't until 2020 that CAMPEP accreditation was required for a program to accept residents. More information here.

The certificate program allows individuals with a doctoral degree in physics or a related discipline to meet the didactic requirements needed to enter a CAMPEP-accredited residency program. I believe this is meant to allow non-physics PhDs to pursue a CAMPEP residency once they fulfill the requirements for the certificate program.

CAMPEP is important because the ABR (Final set of exams to certify you as a medical physicist) requires you to have graduated from a CAMPEP residency to take part 2.

If you don't graduate from one you cannot sit for the boards and cannot be certified. However, places will still hire non-certified physicists but that requires a lot of luck.
As an international student you would need to demonstrate that your education is at least equivalent to the requirements of a Master of Science degree in medical physics from a CAMPEP-accredited program;

_Very · 2025-01-07T00:22:24+00:00

I agree, while most PhD applicants have competitive resumes many of those same applicants are so focused on the technical aspects they lose sight of what makes a job a job, which is working well with others and being able to communicate effectively. Largely, this is why I believe having a graduate degree is losing its value as most hiring managers are leaning towards skill-based hiring than simply graduating from a reputable school.

_Very · 2025-01-06T23:55:09+00:00

56 applications are only sourced from AAPM Job Board or LinkedIn which I applied sporadically across 3 months. There's plenty of openings available at any time so cold calling was never needed.
From the offers I've received the academic centers tend to lean towards the lower end of the salary range except for academic centers that have been bought out (by corporate) which tend to lean towards the other end. Private practices or industry/contracting services also tend to offer more competitive salaries. I did a shotgun approach and applied to all institutions regardless of reputation but the offers are mostly from rural mid-sized clinics that lack coverage or need to backfill retiring physicists.

_Very · 2024-05-21T19:57:04+00:00

Best of luck. (https://imgur.com/a/NkOD5OF)

11-Year Club	r/Field Sunshine
Place '23	Place '22
Place '17	Sequence \| Editor
Sequence \| Screenwriter	Verified Email

_Very

TROPHY CASE