A career in radiation oncology physics starts with a clinical training program which will prepare the medical physicist to become a competent, integral part of the radiation oncology care team. To this end, we welcome you to Allegheny Health Network’s Residency Program in Therapeutic Radiological Physics. More information about Allegheny Health Network is located on the Contact Us page.
The radiation oncology department is consisted of Allegheny General Hospital Cancer Center and 13 remote facilities. Radiation delivery machines such as 15 Elekta Versa HD, 1 Varian Linac, 1 Elekta Unity MR-Linac, 1 Gamma Knife Icon, 1 GammaPod, and 5 Elekta Flexitrons. Treatment planning systems are GammaPlan, GammaPod planning system, Monaco, RayStation, Brainlab Element, and Oncentra. We have 15 4D Siemens CT scanners, and 1 4D PET/CT. We have 1 Vision RT and 11 ABC motion management systems.
Figure 1: AHN Cancer Institute at Allegheny General Hospital
Figure 2: AHN Cancer Institute lobby
Figure 3: Leksell Gamma Knife® Icon™
Figure 4: Biograph Vison™ Siemens PET / CT Scanner
Figure 5: Elekta Unity MR-Linac
Figure 6: Elekta Versa HD™ Linear Accelerator
Figure 7: Gammapod™ Stereotactic Body Radiation (SBRT) System
Figure 8: : Elekta Flexitron® Brachytherapy afterloading platform
Figure 9: SOMATOM Confidence® RT Pro
Our program was awarded initial CAMPEP accreditation in March 2021. The residency is structured as a three-year training program, with two thirds dedicated to clinical training and one third to applied research and development. By the end of our program, physics residents will be ready to embark on a career in radiation oncology physics. They will be well prepared for their board examinations, and have experience in all the tasks required of a clinical physicist.
Our curriculum follows the recommendations of AAPM Report 249. Learning is structured as a hands-on apprenticeship and lectures, intended to support the resident in incrementally acquiring core competence to practice radiation oncology physics independently.
Residents will work through a series of clinical competencies and rotations including:
Allegheny Health Network is a Pittsburgh-based healthcare system. For more information about Allegheny Health Network see www.ahn.org. The Department of Radiation Oncology currently employs 12 PhD. physics faculty, 10
clinical physics staff, 17 dosimetrists, 2 physics residents, 17 MD radiation
oncology faculty, and 4 medical residents. We plan to add more physicists to our staff in 2022. The Division of Radiation Oncology currently treats over 3000 patients annually on 19 state-of-the-art treatment units (15
Elekta Versa HD) and 5 Elekta HDR Flexitrons across 14 facilities. Each facility houses a 4-D CT scanner.
The Therapy Residency Program is based at the new academic cancer center at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH), where houses the state-of-the-art machines including an Elekta Unity MR-Linac, two Elekta Versa HDs, Exactrac Robotic system, a Gamma Knife Icon, a GammaPod, and an Elekta HDR Flexitron. Adding an MR simulator and possibly a research MR scanner are planned in near future.
Figure 3: Leksell Gamma Knife® Icon™ is the stereotactic radiosurgery radiotherapy machine of Elekta Corporation
Figure 4: Biograph Vison™ is a PET/CT scanner of SIEMENS Healthineers
Figure 5: Elekta Unity MR-Linac is the MR-linear accelerator, a radiotherapy machine of Elekta Corporation
Figure 6: Elekta Versa HD™ is a linear accelerator, radiotherapy machine of Elekta Corporation
Figure 7: GammaPod Stereotactic Body Radiation (SBRT) System is the stereotactic radiotherapy system optimized for treating breast cancer of Xcision corporation
Figure 8: Elekta Flexitron® is a Brachytherapy afterloading platform of Elekta corporation
Figure 9: SOMATOM Confidence® RT Pro is a dedicated CT scanner for RT of SIEMENS Healthineers
