Switching career from IT to Medical Physics

[Prath]

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HI,

I am a IT engineer but i have a Bachelors in Physics and Masters in Medical Physics from India, though have not worked as Medica Physicist.
I passed out in 2001 and since then as working as IT engineer.

I am thinking of switching my career to Medical Physics. So currenlty looking for information about being a Medical Physicst in USA

Would be greatly helpful if someone can help me with information on the Medical Physics career in United States. Basically looking for the educational / licensing requirements I need to do and also how good is the career.

I am currently living in the United States.

Thanks,
Prath

 

[Werg]

In theory, if you have a master's in Medical Physics, you have enough to get a job as a junior medical physicist or a medical physics residency spot.

I don't know how employers will view the fact that your degree is from India. On the other hand, some places may be interested in your IT experience, since a lot of clinics are in the process of switching to electronic records, integrating PACS systems with treatment planning systems, etc, that require a lot of networking knowledge that a lot of physicists lack. The residency spots are very difficult to get at the moment since there are very few and they generally are looking for people with PhD's (usually not in medical physics, but that is another story). One program director told me they had about 80 applicants for 2 resident positions this year.

Eventually you will want to get board certified by the American Board of Radiology. This is not required to get a job, but will increase your chance of getting a job as well as your salary, also some states require it for licensing. Qualifying for ABR certification will depend on your degree from India, so you may need to talk to the ABR to see if it meets all of the requirements. I assume if it doesn't, you may need to take some classes, but if your degree is in Medical Physics, it likely will have covered most of the material. ABR certification requires 3 years of post-graduate clinical training, either as part of a residency or as a junior physicist under certified physicists. Things will change in 2012, when you will be required to have completed either an accredited grad program or residency to take the board exams, and then change again in 2014 when an accredited residency will be required. Basically, if you want to get certification, you should start the process before 2012.

You can find a lot of info at the American Association of Physicists in Medicine website:

http://www.aapm.org

And the American Board of Radiolgy site:

http://theabr.org/ic/ic_rp_landing.html