Medical Physics Residency Program

MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper was created in 2013 through a partnership between Cooper University Health Care and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas – one of the nation’s leading cancer hospitals. Through this partnership, MD Anderson at Cooper physicians and staff adhere to the philosophy, processes, and guidelines set by MD Anderson in Houston, Texas, and patients receive the same proven treatment plans provided at MD Anderson.

The Medical Physics Residency is modeled after The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's program and has four main components:

1. Disease-site clinical rotations (e.g., breast, thoracic, head and neck, etc.) in which residents participate in the care of patients throughout the radiation therapy process. Rather than isolating core clinical skills within individual rotations, residents repeatedly practice activities such as treatment planning, chart review, image guidance, and quality assurance across disease sites. Residents assume increasing ownership and independence as they progress through the program, with faculty supervision and feedback appropriate to their level of training.
2. Structured education and assessment, including faculty-led didactics, readings, journal club, presentations, clinical discussions, and oral examinations. Educational activities complement residents' clinical experiences and provide the foundational and technical knowledge necessary for independent practice.
3. Longitudinal technical and clinical experience with the treatment and imaging systems used throughout the department. Residents gain progressively greater experience with equipment operation, quality assurance, troubleshooting, dosimetry, and commissioning activities throughout the two-year program rather than encountering these activities only during isolated rotations.
4. Clinical physics projects that allow residents to apply medical physics principles to real departmental needs. Projects include structured competency-based experiences as well as opportunities to participate in clinical development, quality improvement, commissioning, validation, and implementation of new technologies and workflows.

The Department of Radiation Oncology operates at facilities in Camden, Voorhees, Moorestown, Mount Laurel, and Cape May Court House. Residents work at all five locations. There are ten medical physicists on staff. Camden, Voorhees, and Moorestown are equipped with Varian TrueBeam linear accelerators and the AlignRT surface imaging technology. Camden also houses the department’s HDR brachytherapy program. Mount Laurel is home to an Elekta Unity MR-linac. Linac-based stereotactic radiosurgery treatments are performed in Camden and Moorestown, with treatments planned using Brainlab Elements and monitored with BrainLab’s ExacTrac Dynamic system. Conventional treatment planning is currently performed with Eclipse treatment planning system. Elekta’s MOSAIQ is the department’s oncology information system.

The Medical Physics Residency at Cooper is a two year program with a July 1 start date. The program is CAMPEP-accredited. We plan to admit one new resident each year.

Residents will have the opportunity to attend one meeting a year (typically AAPM Summer School in year 1 and AAPM Spring Clinical Meeting in year 2). Residents will also have the opportunity to visit other centers in their second year including the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

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