Didactic Training
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Clinical conferences, seminars, small discussion groups, journal clubs, and one-on-one instruction are all integral parts of the program. As a resident, you participate in these didactic opportunities:
- Medical physics and oncology conferences
- Medical physics and radiation oncology journal clubs
- Treatment planning conferences
- New patient conferences
- Courses in anatomy, clinical oncology, and radiobiology
- Professionalism and leadership courses
- Research discussions
- Quality improvement initiatives
- Division of Medical Physics meetings
If you do not have a CAMPEP-accredited graduate degree, the program director will evaluate your course transcripts and may require you to take additional courses through the Mayo Clinic Medical Physics Certificate Program to satisfy the requirements of the CAMPEP Standards for Accreditation of Graduate Educational Programs in Medical Physics. These courses are typically completed in the first year of the program.
What I like most about the program is its well-designed training schedule. All the faculty members put a lot of effort into designing the didactics as well as the clinical rotations. They are well-prepared to train anyone with minimum medical physics background into competent medical physicists.
Xueyan Tang, Ph.D.
Radiation Oncology Clinical Medical Physics resident
Visiting professors
Many prominent professors visit Mayo Clinic each year. They present their work during departmental conferences and Cancer Center presentations. Some visiting professors are invited to present at a monthly Oncology Society meeting held at the Mayo Clinic Foundation House, former home of Dr. William Mayo.
You will have the opportunity to meet with these individuals to discuss topics in the visiting professor's area of expertise, and are encouraged to take full advantage of these opportunities.
Teaching opportunities
In addition to periodic educational participation between the physics resident group, residents will have teaching and mentoring opportunities potentially involving medical radiation oncology residents, graduate students, and graduate research staff.
Career development curriculum
The environment and large patient volume at Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota, prepares you for all aspects of clinical medical physics practice. During the third year of residency, you participate in the position placement development curriculum to review key components of a successful job search and placement.
Involvement in the applied research of the medical practice further strengthens your academic skills. You are expected to participate in national medical physics and radiation oncology meetings.
What I like most about the medical physics residency program at Mayo is that the training strategy is in-depth learning. Moreover, here, everybody is genuinely there to answer questions and provide guidance in the training process.
Sharareh Fakhraei, Ph.D.
Radiation Oncology Clinical Medical Physics resident