It sounds like AAPM laid off their Deputy Executive Director and most of their IT staff. Anyone have more details on what's going on?

Just want to find out how do you handle a server going down due to maybe a motherboard failure, do you have another server that can get back online or is it the case of waiting for the repairs to be completed.

Hello, how do thermal neutrons correlate with KERMA?

From my understanding, since no bremsstrahlung x-rays are generated, the absorbed dose can be assumed to be equal to the kerma at ant point in neutron fields at least up to an energy of 20 MeV.

And I am aware that thermal neutrons are less than 0.5 MeV.

Hence; thermal neutrons = kerma (KINETIC ENERGY RELEASED PER UNIT MASS)

But, is it the kinetic energy released once it goes in and interact with the material?

Or is it the same KE when depositing neutrons to interacting with the material

Because it is stated the most probably KE is 0.025 at 20 Celsius BUT is that the KE deposited in the beginning (is this still kerma?) OR KE when interacting the material? (Or is this kerma?)

Hi everyone,

I recently moved to the USA from Europe and am waiting for my work permit. I have a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and a master’s degree in Medical Physics (graduated two years ago). However, I don’t have any professional experience in this field yet.

My ultimate goal is to work in radiation therapy physics, but I’m trying to figure out the best steps to take here in the U.S.

My Questions:

1. ABR Certification:
   • Should I attempt Part 1 of the ABR exam before starting work or a residency program?
   • From what I understand, Part 2 and Part 3 require experience in a clinical setting. Is that correct? How many years of experience are generally needed before I can sit for these exams?
2. Residency Programs:
   • How competitive are medical physics residency programs in the U.S.?
   • Would my European degrees (and lack of work experience) be a disadvantage when applying?
3. Preparation:
   • I’ve started refreshing my knowledge using some key textbooks (I’ll list them below). Are there any other resources or study guides you’d recommend for someone entering this field?
4. Salary Expectations:
   • What is the typical starting salary for a medical physicist in radiation therapy? How does it change with certification and experience?

Resources I’m Using to Prepare:

• Hall, E.J. and Giaccia, A. (2011) Radiobiology for the Radiologist. 7th Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia.
• Cherry, S.R., Sorenson, J.A. and Phelps, M.E. (2012) Physics in Nuclear Medicine. 4th Edition, Elsevier Inc., Philadelphia.
• Bushberg, J.T., Seibert, J.A., Leidholdt, E.M. and Boone, J.M. (2012) The Essential Physics of Medical Imaging. 3rd Edition, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia.

I'm looking for the following books, but haven't managed to find them anywhere online

• Attix, F.H. (1986) Introduction to Radiological Physics and Radiation Dosimetry. J. Wiley and Son, New York.
• Khan, F.M. and Gibbons, J.P. (2014) The Physics of Radiation Therapy. 5th Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia

I’d love to hear any advice you have about breaking into this field—whether it’s about the certification process, residencies, or even day-to-day work in radiation therapy physics.

Thanks so much !

Hello, i was reviewing the NCRP-151 table for the TVL. it looks like that TVL1 and TVLe is changing but for lead and steel it is not changing, what is the reason behind it

https://preview.redd.it/7xzay66ym46e1.png?width=258&format=png&auto=webp&s=43ce37dc8e51cfde09d151869827693c0020770d

Hi. Looking through this publication, there were some constraints I'm trying to figure out.

For both the kidneys and lung, the metrics look to be "reversed" along the DVH curve. The critical lung volume looks to be a bit tricker but I drew it just to make more sense of it. The volume of the healthy lung should increase as dose increases (smaller high dose volumes) but this CV1000cc and CV1500cc seem counterintuitive.

Help?

https://preview.redd.it/7zujeuvdr26e1.jpg?width=2238&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba392ae4a711337821639d4c0ba634af6a4e4a9a

Hello, I’m currently a MSc medical physics student (campep accredited) entering my final semester for my MSc. As such, I have registered for the match and have been applying for residency programs through the MPRAP, as I hope to enter a residency program following my MSc degree. However, I have received a little to no guidance from my program/instructors so I have no idea when I should expect to hear back from the programs I have applied for, in the event they wish to schedule an interview with me. So, does anyone have any idea when residency programs typically start sending out interview offers to applicants? I’ve been applying for the last couple months and haven’t heard anything back as of yet and so I just wanna know if I should be worried (maybe I messed something up in the application process?). I really appreciate anyone’s input on this!

Everybody knows and loves him. It's the patient orientation indicator, also known as the Michelin Man:

This is from the \"Create Verification Plan\" dialog.

I love this dude and these sort of ancient 3d renders of P.O.I. doing stuff. Anybody know of where I can find more art of this dude? I know there's one for portal dosimetry:

https://preview.redd.it/72wr6942226e1.png?width=222&format=png&auto=webp&s=a8cbaea17a1e7ff2d6776e8adcee93032ca0a076

I also seem to vaguely remember seeing a render of him fishing but I cannot for the life of me find it. Any other information about who made these renders is welcome too.

This is the place to ask questions about graduate school, training programs, or general basic career topics. If you are just learning about the field and want to know if it is something you should explore, this thread is probably the correct place for those first few questions on your mind.

Examples:

• "I majored in Surf Science and Technology in undergrad, is Medical Physics right for me?"
• "I can't decide between Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics..."
• "Do Medical Physicists get free CT scans for life?"
• "Masters vs. PhD"
• "How do I prepare for Residency interviews?"

In radiation therapy (including radionuclide delivery - Xofigo or Pluvicto), but also linac/CT shielding surveys, is it really necessary to get a pressurized survey meter like the 451p which is accurate down to uR? I would think dealing with the shipping of a pressurized chamber isn't worth the hassle and we should just get the non-pressurized model (451B).
Am I missing something?

https://partoazmamehr.ir/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Data-Sheet-451P_451B.pdf

I want to help out my colleague who's studying for their oral boards by doing an in house mock oral exam. Anyone have a source for suitable sample questions to save me some effort? Thanks!

Can you suggest any good textbooks or other resources for radiation protection, shielding etc? Concise texts would be better. Thanks

This is the instruction: 'Use the photon beam energy spectrum derived from one PHSP file ( https://www-nds.iaea.org/phsp/photon/Varian_TrueBeam_6MV/ ). (_D_o_n_’t_ _u_s_e_ _t_h_e_ _P_H_S_P_ _f_i_l_e_ _i_t_s_e_l_f_'
This was a tip: 'How to do: Extract beam energy from every history from the phasespace file, and create a histogram of these. Then, use the histogram (intensity vs. weight) in the source energy spectrum.'

I need to extract the kinetic energy (MeV) and the particle weight to create a spectrum beam in my topas code.
I tried following this page; https://bwheelz36.github.io/ParticlePhaseSpace/IAEA.html and tips from ChatGPT. I put my python.py code, the Varian_TrueBeam6MV_01.IAEAheader.txt file and the Varian_TrueBeam6MV_01.IAEAphsp file in a WeTransfer: https://we.tl/t-rVJEdwRSkr .

Two friends who code for work tried to help me already but to no avail...
Thank you!

Update on the histogram:

https://preview.redd.it/ms6kfv3oc16e1.png?width=921&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ae4ed6d29f3d5c7b6b80cfdfb2e4acbb6e21084

For the seasoned(staff physicist) or fresh (residents) what coding languages do you use the most? Python, JavaScript or MatLab? To name a few but if I'm missing any,, pls share

Dear all, Do you know what is the accuracy of the CBCT for matching purposes on a TrueBeam and an Halcyon? Brainlab told me for the Exactrac system 1mm & 1 deg.

Hi everyone I'm a student I'm looking for a site that allows me to download free dicom cbct files to train on software thank you all

Hello everyone. I have an upcoming on site job interview in a couple of weeks. This will be my first onsite interview. They sent me an itinerary of what the day would be like and it mentions that I will be meeting the physicians and therapists. What kind of questions should I expect from the physicians and therapists? I just want to make sure that I’m fully prepared

Thanks!

Are there people here who work with radiopharmaceuticals, or know any research groups that deal with it? My background is in physics but my research is more chemical. Currently soul-searching what path to take, but I am looking at nuclear medicine. Any insights will help. Thank you!

I recently tried following some old links to the websites of the PLUNC treatment planning system, and could only access them through the wayback machine. Is that TPS project no longer being maintained? Was the code ever open sourced?

Hello I am trying to do some 3D photon dose calculations with inhimogeneities (my phantom is a lung slab between 2 slabs of water). However, my kernel is humongous at something like 173x173x190 (it was provided to me) but I am try to calculate dose for a phantom that is 64x64x64. Would someone mind explaining how I can scale my kernel to match my phantom geometry? Please and thank you

Hello everyone, I want to read some ICRU reports (50,62...). I didn't find any way to get them for downloading. Can someone help me ?

I got a new M series macbook pro and am running parallels 20 with Windows 11 ARM. I can't connect to the base unit of the Unfors X2 with the onboard bluetooth processor or the ASUS BT500 bluetooth dongle. I called ASUS and they said the dongle is not ARM compatible. The unit can't be added as a device to windows because it requires a pin. There is no pin for this unit because it transmits information only, does not receive it. The parallels support person said there is no ARM compatible bluetooth dongle on the market (?). Everything works fine on my old macbook pro with an intel processor with parallels running windows 10. The problem is she is almost 10 years old and even with a new battery installed last year, she doesn't last as long as I need her to while on site. Could it be that the X2 is not ARM compatible. I've reached out to Fluke/Raysafe and am waiting on a response.

If you are doing a weekly physics check and find some physics documentation is missing what do you do?

For example, a second check dose calc was done, but the document was not uploaded into patient chart. Do you upload it yourself or notify the physicist who did the double check?

In the spirit of efficiency I used to just fix issues myself, so that the correction is done as soon as possible. However, after many years of cleaning up after others, I only have myself to blame. By fixing it myself I rob others of a learning opportunity. Now I send a message to the relevant staff member to address the issue. But I feel like I’m being petty.

Is anyone doing bolus linking optimisation and unlink bolus for final calculation methods for VMAT flash for breast cases if these methods need any renormalisation of dose?

Looking for experience sharing for bolus link and virtual bolus + extension of body methods which one your clinics do?

What are some tips and tricks using Eclipse that vastly improved your user experience but aren’t well advertised?

I’ll start with this because a colleague who has been a dosi for 10+ years never knew this and was manually re-optimizing instead:

If you forget to alternate your VMAT arc angle directions, you can right-click on the offending field(s) and select “Reverse Arc Direction” form the menu that pops up.

Anyone ever try to send Monaco plan to ARIA ? is it doable? what are the drawback for this arrangement? Thanks

Hello! I'm a second-year American physics undergraduate, but I want to practice medical physics in Europe. I think Sweden, Denmark, or the Netherlands would be cool places to live. However, I know that America has strict qualifications to become a medical physicist- you must go to a CAMPEP-certified university for your master's and then pass some exams. I was wondering if there's a similar regulation for the countries I mentioned above. Or perhaps is there an EU-wide regulation in place, so that if I got my masters in one country, maybe I could practice in another country? Thanks :)

Hi, I’m new to using a clinac as I’ve only used TrueBeams. Is there a manual for how to operate the imager pendant? I need to learn how to move the kV arm with the pendant. Thank you

Where can I find free Reliable research about that device? It always needs to be paid for and I can’t. Help