Medical Physics Residency Program

The two-year medical physics residency program is tailored to allow residents to achieve competence in all areas of medical physics practice. Through a combination of didactic and experiential learning, residents obtain the skills required to become qualified medical physicists. The program is accredited by CAMPEP, the Commission on the Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs, and is administered by the University of Toronto Department of Radiation Oncology.

Rotations

Year 1 (Y1) and Year 2 (Y2):

Instrumentation and Machine QA
Radiation Safety
Radiation Biology
Site-based Treatment Planning
Quality Management
Imaging
Interdisciplinary Rotation

Year 2Y2:

Brachytherapy
Specialized Machines
Chart Checking

The Sunnybrook advantage

The Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre houses one of the largest radiation medicine programs in North America. Our large, academic, fast-paced program treats over 8,000 new patients annually.

Residents are fully integrated into the clinic, learning ‘on-the-job’ and taking on clinical responsibilities
Our department is a leader in transitioning to MR-based radiotherapy
Many of our medical physics faculty are leaders within COMP, AAPM, and provincial cancer organizations
Residents are encouraged to develop their leadership and communication skills by engaging in COMP, AAPM, and CARO activities
Medical physics faculty are actively engaged in mentorship and teaching of residents

Prospective residents who want to make an impact on the field and invent the future of healthcare, please contact our local Residency Program Director, Dr. Brian Keller, PhD., DABR, FCCPM. Brian.keller@sunnybrook.ca

Current residents

Sukhraj Virdee

Start date: September 2024

PhD: Medical Physics at Toronto Metropolitan University
PhD thesis: His research focused on the development of innovative and novel CT biomarkers to assess emphysema.
Current projects: TBD
Outside of work: Exercising, Travelling and Hiking

Naila Rahman

Start date: September 2024

PhD: Medical Biophysics at Western University
PhD thesis: Her research focused on using diffusion MRI techniques to probe micro changes in mouse brain post-concussion.
Current projects: TBD
Outside of work: Biking, Binging, Korean Dramas and Trying new cafés

Thomas Mann

PhD: Radiation Oncology Physics at the University of Calgary PhD

Thesis: Automated planning for linac based Radiosurgery
Current Projects: TBD
Outside of work: Enjoys choral singing, sports such as volleyball and ultimate frisbee, and patio beers with friends.

Mark D’Souza

PhD: Medical Physics at the Toronto Metropolitan University

PhD thesis: Development and applications of water calorimeters to novel radiotherapy techniques
Current projects: TBD
Outside of work: Mark enjoys playing music, volleyball, and board games in his free time.

Alumni

Graduates from our residency program have been able to successfully find employment all over North America. Here is a list of our program’s alumni

Name	Year Graduated
Lingyue Sun Nathan Orlando	2024
Allan Hupman Chris Dydula Kaiming Guo	2023
Eyesha Younus Priscilla Dreyer	2022
Humza Nusrat	2021
Lee MacDonald Viktor Iakovenko	2020
Syed Bilal Ahmad	2018
Alyaa Elzibak Ekaterina Tchistiakova Shahram Mashouf	2017
Cindy Tam	2016
Moti Paudel	2015
Marcus Sonier	2014
Jenna King Niranjan Venugopal	2013
Anthony Kim	2012
Ananth Ravi	2011
Huan Yu Matt Wronski	2011
Alex Karotki	2009
Rick Holly	2008
Beibei Zhang	2005
Collins Yeboah Michelle Nielsen	2004
Matthew Skinner	2003
David Beachey Marianne Aznar	2000
Geordi Pang	1998
Katharina Sixel	1996

Admissions

Please visit the UTDRO webpage for application information at the following link https://radonc.utoronto.ca/medical-physics-residency.

For any questions related to admissions, courses, or CAMPEP eligibility, please contact the UTDRO Residency Program Registrar.

Projects

Residents participate in a research project as part of their residency completion requirements. Sunnybrook residents usually participate in several highly impactful clinical projects that improve patient care. Currently, there are clinical projects available in the areas listed below.

MR-guided RT
Brachytherapy
Adaptive RT
Machine learning/AI
SRS/SBRT
Functional imaging
Detectors and radiation measurement
Virtual reality in radiotherapy

Sample Resident Publications

Nathan Orlando et al. Experimental determination of magnetic field quality conversion factors for eleven ionization chambers in 1.5 T and 0.35 T MR-linac systems. Med Phys 51, 2998-3009, 2024.
Lee MacDonald et al. Real-time infrared motion tracking analysis for patients treated with gated frameless image guided stereotactic radiosurgery. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 106(2), 413-421, 2020.
Viktor Iakovenko et al. Experimental measurement of ionization chamber angular response and associated magnetic field correction factors in MR-linac. Med Phys 47(4), 1940-1948, 2020.
Moti Paudel et al. Experimental evaluation of a GPU-based Monte Carlo dose calculation algorithm in the Monaco treatment planning system. J Appl Clin Med Phys 17(6), 230-241, 2016.
Marcus Sonier et al. Implementation of a volumetric modulated arc therapy treatment planning solution for kidney and adrenal stereotactic body radiation therapy. Med Dos 41(4), 323-328, 2016.
Ananth Ravi et al. A comparison of post-implant dosimetry for Pd-103 versus Cs-131 seeds on a retrospective series of permanent breast seed implant patients. Med Phys 38(11), 6046-52, 2011.

Contact

Local Residency Program Director: Brian Keller, PhD, DABR, FCCPM
Brian.keller@sunnybrook.ca