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Medical physics

Medical physics

Warren Campbell: Radiotherapy resident

23 Oct 2018

Jude Dineley interviews Warren Campbell, clinical radiotherapy physicist, at the University of Colorado Cancer Center in Aurora. Campbell is one of eight physicists profiled as part of a specially commissioned article on forging a career in medical physics.

Warren Campbell
Radioactive resident: clinical physicist Warren Campbell

Living in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, Warren Campbell is one year into a residency working towards certification as a clinical radiotherapy physicist, at the University of Colorado Cancer Center in Aurora. The Canadian relocated from British Columbia, following his PhD, to get one of the highly coveted positions. Campbell’s intensive two-year training combines regular duties and rotations, enabling him to cut his teeth in all aspects of the field. This includes brachytherapy, where radioactive sources are placed in or near the tumour, and looking after the linacs used to treat most patients. “You have to understand every part of the linac and what it does, how it does what it does and what happens when something goes wrong,” says Campbell.

A broad skill set is crucial in Campbell’s work, including scientific problem-solving skills, often under time pressure. Typical scenarios he might face include a broken-down linac with a patient only part-way through treatment or a radiation measurement during treatment that doesn’t match the value predicted by calculations.

Campbell’s soft skills have proved vital too – “I can’t think of another sort of physics job where soft skills are more important,” he says. “It’s a very team-based career. You’re working with a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds, physicians, radiation therapists, dosimetrists, nurses, and then the patients themselves.”

In one case, Campbell helped make a curious, elderly patient feel at ease by chatting to her about the physics of her treatment. As a young woman, she was one of the first at her high school allowed to study the subject. “She wanted to know everything about the physics involved,” he says. “I found that really rewarding.”

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