Parallel/Opposed Editorial: DMP/residency programs are more sustainable than MPAs for the future of the medical physics profession

Medical Physics has been a popular profession to enter for science program graduates, which include students from medical physics, physics, biomedical engineering, chemistry, etc. For many years, there were minimal academic limitations for students that graduated from a nonmedical physics program to get into this profession. However, things have changed since the American Board of Radiology (ABR) created strict eligibility requirements for taking the certification examinations, with the completion of a CAMPEP (Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs) accredited graduate program beginning in 2012 and a CAMPEP accredited residency program beginning in 2014. Meanwhile, the first Professional Doctorate in Medical Physics (PDMP or DMP for simplicity) was established and admitted their first student in the Fall of 2009. The same program received CAMPEP accreditation in the following year. Also, around the same time, the concept of Medical Physicist Assistants (MPA) was introduced into our field first in the diagnostic subfield and then legitimized in the Medical Physics profession in 2013 through the formation of Medical Physics Practice Guideline (MPPG)‐3. Residency continues to be a mainstream option for most eligible graduates, yet the existence of DMP and MPA has brought heated debates in the past years. As it is approaching a 10‐yr mark since the inception of DMP/MPA, a decline in DMP positions and an increase in MPAs have been observed in our field. This begs the question: “whether DMP/residency or MPA is sustainable for the future of the medical physics profession?” Herein, we have invited Dr. Chengyu Shi arguing for the proposition that “DMP/residency programs are more sustainable than MPAs” while Dr. Brent Parker argues against it. Dr. Chengyu Shi is an associate attending medical physicist, and the lead physicist overseeing clinical physics operations at Memorial Sloan Kettering's outpatient locations in Basking Ridge and Monmouth, New Jersey. His research interests are in Monte Carlo simulation, virtual human phantom development and applications, special treatment techniques including stereotactic body radiotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, and more. Dr. Shi received his Ph.D. (2004) in nuclear engineering and science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and finished his residency training at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He taught and mentored residents at the University of Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas, for several years. Dr. Brent Parker obtained his Ph.D. (2004) and M.S. (2001) in Medical Physics from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and his B.S. (1997) in Physics from Louisiana Tech University. He has been involved in both clinical and academic medical physics in his entire career. Although arguing against the presented statement, he is a proponent of medical physics residency programs. He helped establish the Medical Physics Residency Program at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Baton Rouge, LA and served as its Program Director. He is currently an Associate Professor and the Director of Physics in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. Dr. Parker has served the AAPM at both the national and chapter levels in a variety of committee and elected positions. He is certified by the American Board of Radiology in Therapeutic Radiologic Physics.