Residency Program Overview

Program Overview

The CAMPEP-accredited Radiation Oncology Physics Residency Training Program at Willis Knighton Cancer Center offers comprehensive clinical training. Designed to prepare residents for certification by the American Board of Radiology (ABR), the program equips you with the knowledge, skills and experience needed for independent practice in a clinical setting.

Through supervised clinical rotations, independent projects and hands-on experience, you’ll cover topics outlined in “AAPM Report 90: Essentials and Guidelines for Hospital-Based Medical Physics Residency Training Programs and AAPM Task Group No. 249.B - Essentials and Guidelines for Clinical Physics Residency Training Programs.” Upon completion, you will be fully prepared to sit for board certification in radiation oncology physics.

What You’ll Learn

As a full-time member of our clinical team, you will be actively involved in all aspects of patient care. Training is divided into daily and non-daily activities:

Daily Clinical Focus Areas

• Treatment planning and dose calculations (dosimetry)

• Treatment plan review
• Acceptance and commissioning new equipment
• Calibration and QA of various clinic systems (LINACs, treatment planning systems, brachytherapy units, etc.) 
• Radiation safety and regulatory compliance
• Radiation safety
• Patient-specific QA
• High dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy
• Proton therapy
• Nuclear oncology physics (theranostics)
• Special procedures (stereotactic radiosurgery, etc.)

  Non-Daily Clinical Experiences

Consortium-Based Learning / Affiliate Model

Willis Knighton Health is proud to be part of a multi-institutional residency consortium. This consortium includes:

• Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
• Willis Knighton Cancer Center (Shreveport, Louisiana)
• University of Mississippi Medical Center (Jackson, Mississippi)

This collaborative model allows for expanded training opportunities across nonprofit, academic, private and community-based cancer centers. Each site offers different special procedures and maintains its own local program director, all of whom participate in the central residency program committee. Willis Knighton began hosting residents in 2011. We currently support two residents in the program.

Residency Structure and Leadership

Our medical physics residency program is based within the Department of Radiation Oncology at Willis Knighton Cancer Center.

• Program director: Joseph P. Dugas, PhD, DABR, FAAPM
• Clinical instruction: Delivered by board-certified or board-eligible medical physicists and dosimetrists under the supervision of our chief physicist

How to Apply

Our program participates in the Medical Physics Matching Program administered by National Matching Services Inc. and will only accept applications submitted via the MedPhys Match system (https://natmatch.com/medphys/). As an affiliate of the Mary Bird Perkins consortium, all applications must be submitted directly to the Mary Bird Perkins listing (NMS Code: 12611).  Applications will be independently considered at all three affiliates. Willis Knighton will directly select, interview, and rank candidates for our residency position. Candidates ranking Willis Knighton’s specific program should use Willis Knighton’s NMS Code: 19311 in their rank order list.