Post Content: Hi all,
I am currently deciding whether to enter a CAMPEP MS program in medical physics. I was wondering if medical physics has been a fulfilling career? Would you do it again? Would you recommend it? What would you have done differently?
Comment 1: This job is repetitive and boring, if the user is not into groundhog measurements and QAs, then it would be better to find something else.
Response 1: Also, it is somehow biased and unfair, if the user is not connected and has a good network, they will end up working in a subpar place regardless of their intelligence and skills.
^Found the locum!
Comment 2: I worked (from home) nearly all day today (Sunday). I have a hugely busy primary job, and I have two side gigs. I look forward to going to work every day. And I am rewarded handsomely for my hard work - which makes me feel overpaid because I really enjoy what I do. If the user isn't into this for some reason though, I think that they will get weeded out over the long term.
Comment 3: The user is at home on a Sunday night and looks forward to work tomorrow. Before they went back to grad school to get their MS in medphys, they worked as an engineer. Sunday night was the worst because they would dread the next day. They've been a clinical physicist for almost 4 years, plus 2 years of residency, and they truly enjoy it. Switching careers was the best choice they ever made. And they also speak with high school physics classes about this career path, so they definitely recommend it!
Wow!! The user doesn’t normally reply on these things but this is the same exact story as theirs except that they’re still in grad school. Former engineer. Quit their job to pursue a medphys career and currently in their last semester of their MS. Enjoying what they are learning and they already see how they’re making a difference in the clinics. Looking forward to residency and eventually a paycheck ;)
Awesome, glad to hear another story like theirs! They have found the engineering background to serve them extremely well clinically, especially troubleshooting linac issues and identifying ways to improve QA workflows. They also believe residency programs really valued the fact that they had worked in “the real world” and weren’t an undergrad straight to grad student to residency. For some people working a proper 40+ hour week for the first time in their life can be a real struggle, not the kind of risk a residency wants to take if they don’t have to.
Thank you for your input!
Comment 4: The user is finishing their residency this summer and will start their career as a faculty, primarily working in the clinic immediately after graduating. So far, it’s been fulfilling for them. They get to work with advanced technology and use it to treat patients, and often literally save their lives. They enjoy their team around them, which includes radiation oncologists, therapists, other medical physicists, dosimetrists, and nurses, among others. Sure, a decent amount of the work is routine and repetitive, but that’s just the reality of clinical medicine. They’d do it all the same again. They don’t have any regrets about where they went to school or did residency.
But that’s just their personal experience. The question of “is med phys fulfilling to you” is, of course, very personal and depends on what the person you’re asking is looking for. They think the best question you need to ask yourself is if a career in med phys offers you most of the things you’re looking for.
Thanks for your answer!
Original URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/MedicalPhysics/comments/lp6u7b/career_question/