The Department of Radiation Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN is accepting applications for our Medical Physics Residency Program in Therapeutic Radiological Physics, starting June 20, 2025.  We will not be participating in the NMS Match program this academic year, and therefore, will be able to make offers to preferred applicants before the official Match date.  The qualified applicant may send application materials directly to the Program Director, Dr. Kenneth Homann, via email (kenneth.l.homann@vumc.org) or apply directly to the AAPM Job Posting.  Application materials/requirements requested include:

• MS or PhD from a CAMPEP accredited graduate program or show proof of a completed CAMPEP accredited alternative pathway by the start of the residency
• Applicant’s Curriculum Vitae
• Official Transcripts of Undergraduate and Graduate Work
• Personal Statement
• 3 Letters of Recommendation (Recommenders can email directly to Dr. Homann's email address)
• GRE General Scores (if available)

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
• Applications for the 2025-2026 academic year are due by the end of day, Friday, September 20, 2024
• Qualified applicants will be sent interview requests that will take place on one of the following three dates:
  • Wednesday, October 2, 2024
  • Friday, October 18, 2024
  • Tuesday, October 22, 2024
• All interviews will be held virtually
• Offers will be sent out by Friday, November 1, 2024
• Successful candidates will possess the ability to work well in a strong team environment and have excellent communication skills
• Residents receive a competitive salary and benefits package as well.

RESIDENCY PROGRAM GOALS  
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

RESIDENCY CURRICULUM HIGHLIGHTS
The level of responsibility for each resident increases as proficiency and experience is gained and validated.  First year residents will be under direct supervision for all tasks initially with the goal of their independence continually increasing.  Second year residents acquire even more responsibility as they continue to gain independence with the goal to be functioning as a junior physicist upon graduation.  Leadership and communication is strongly emphasized throughout the program in addition to the technical competencies and experiences required to become a strong clinician.

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 sixteen board certified Medical Physicists (eleven Ph.D. and five M.S.) and ten 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 four 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.

If there are any further questions, please feel free to contact the Residency Program Director, Kenneth Homann, Ph.D., DABR (kenneth.l.homann@vumc.org).

About Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Managing more than 2 million patient visits each year, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is one of the largest academic medical centers in the Southeast, and is the primary resource for specialty and primary care in hundreds of adult and pediatric specialties for patients throughout Tennessee and the Mid-South. The School of Medicine’s biomedical research program is among the nation’s top 10 in terms of National Institutes of Health peer review funding, receiving more than $500 million in public and private awards during 2016. The Medical Center is the region’s locus of postgraduate medical education, with over 1,000 residents and fellows training in more than 100 specialty areas. Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt are recognized each year by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals rankings as national leaders, with 19 nationally ranked adult and pediatric specialties. Through the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network, VUMC is working with over 60 hospitals and 5,000 clinicians across Tennessee and five neighboring states to share best practices and bring value-driven and cost-effective health care to the Mid-...South. (Source: https://www.vumc.org/about/?_ga=2.253703049.1014420006.1570627926-222656014.1522957457)

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