What are the job prospects for a medical physics graduate in California?

[Lawrencel2]

I am a senior physics major. I am going to be applying to some grad schools over these next few months but it has me thinking that I really have only a few ideas about what i want out of school. I am so far going to be applying for an ms in medical physics at san diego state (CAMPEP certified).

I have no idea what the job market looks like for someone in trying to get into medical physics around this time..

I was hoping i could receive some feedback regarding how hard it will be to get a job with a masters from a campep school.

I was also wondering what i can expect to make starting salary? I am really looking to stay in the bay area region or just california in general (I am not all about the money, I just have family obligations that require more than 20k a year! lol)
I really appreciate any and all feedback. I am so lost looking into what is a viable career and starting to become overwhelmed.. thank you.

 

[sgfairbro]

I was considering doing a medical physics M.Sc and I found this thread to be quite informative:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=676969

 

[Choppy]

I have no idea what the job market looks like for someone in trying to get into medical physics around this time..
[I was hoping i could receive some feedback regarding how hard it will be to get a job with a masters from a campep school.

I don't have any solid stats, but for the last few years the trend has been that MSc graduates are finding it difficult to compete for the limited number of CAMPEP-accredited residencies against the PhD graduates.

There are initiatives to change this. Traditionally residencies have been offered by larger institutions and come hand-in-hand with post-doctoral research projects, which is one reason why PhD graduates are preferred. But several institutions are now examining "spoke and hub" residency models where residents will spend the majority of their time in smaller, clinically-oriented institutions but have some level of supervision/exposure/adminstration from the larger centres. These are targeted more towards the MSc-level graduates who want to get into the clinics.

As a point of commentary, I expect the job situation in medical physics to change once the US economy picks up, if it ever does. The demand for services in cancer care is growing and will continue to do so and there is some concern that we are actually not training enough medical physicists to keep up.

I was also wondering what i can expect to make starting salary? I am really looking to stay in the bay area region or just california in general (I am not all about the money, I just have family obligations that require more than 20k a year! lol)

This depends on a lot of factors including location, certification and highest degree. For residents the median salary is in the $50k ballpark, but it climbs substantially once you get your first job as a qualified medical physicist. For hard numbers I would recommend getting a student membership with the AAPM to have access to their annual salary surveys.

 

[Lawrencel2]

I don't have any solid stats, but for the last few years the trend has been that MSc graduates are finding it difficult to compete for the limited number of CAMPEP-accredited residencies against the PhD graduates.

There are initiatives to change this. Traditionally residencies have been offered by larger institutions and come hand-in-hand with post-doctoral research projects, which is one reason why PhD graduates are preferred. But several institutions are now examining "spoke and hub" residency models where residents will spend the majority of their time in smaller, clinically-oriented institutions but have some level of supervision/exposure/adminstration from the larger centres. These are targeted more towards the MSc-level graduates who want to get into the clinics.

As a point of commentary, I expect the job situation in medical physics to change once the US economy picks up, if it ever does. The demand for services in cancer care is growing and will continue to do so and there is some concern that we are actually not training enough medical physicists to keep up.



This depends on a lot of factors including location, certification and highest degree. For residents the median salary is in the $50k ballpark, but it climbs substantially once you get your first job as a qualified medical physicist. For hard numbers I would recommend getting a student membership with the AAPM to have access to their annual salary surveys.

So, after Graduating with my Ms how necessary is it to enter a Campep residency program? Is their any options straight out of my Ms?

thankyou for the feedback!

 

[Choppy]

See my post (#5) in response to this thread.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=718328

There certainly are options, but if your goal is to work as a medical physicist, you really should be aiming to get through an accredited residency.