(Baton Rouge, La.) – A regional consortium of cancer care organizations has announced its 2021 medical physics residency training program graduates, which include Dr. Christopher Schneider, Lydia Wang, Adam Sova and Hanif Soysal.
In order to address a nationwide shortage of medical physicists, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Baton Rouge, LA, established a medical physics residency training consortium in 2009. The group received accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs in 2012, and currently includes training sites at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Willis-Knighton Cancer Center in Shreveport, LA, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS. The program allows for the significant expansion of residency training opportunities and created one of the largest programs in the United States.
“We are thrilled to have had such a dedicated group of individuals within our consortium and we can’t wait to see the impact they make throughout the medical physics discipline across the Gulf South and the country,” said Jonas Fontenot, Ph.D., program director of the residency consortium. “Through our robust residency program, which exposes residents to a culture of clinical excellence with state-of-the-art technology and research, we are producing some of the nation’s most highly-trained medial physicists. Congratulations to this year’s graduating class; we wish them the best of luck with their career and look forward to how they will enhance cancer care in the years to come.”
Dr. Schneider entered the residency program at Mary Bird Perkins after receiving a doctorate of medical physics from the Louisiana State University program, a partnership with Mary Bird Perkins. Following graduation, Dr. Schneider will be joining the Mary Bird Perkins medical physics department as an academic medical physicist.
Wang joined the residency program at Mary Bird Perkins after receiving her bachelor’s degree from Batuibak Yang-Ming University in Taipei, Taiwan. She went to Columbia University in New York, NY where she obtained a master’s degree in medical physics. Following graduation, Lydia will be joining the staff at Rohnert Park Cancer Center in Rohnert Park, California as a medical physicist.
Sova entered the residency program at Willis Knighton Cancer Center after receiving a bachelor’s degree in medical physics from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri and his master’s degree in medical physics from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Sova will be joining the staff at Oklahoma Cancer Specialists and Research Institute in Tulsa, OK.
Soysal entered the residency program at the University of Mississippi Medical Center after receiving his master’s degree from the Louisiana State University program, a partnership with Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. Following graduation, Soysal will join the faculty at the University of Mississippi Medical Center as part of the institution’s medical physics team.
There are approximately 4,000 board-certified medical physicists in the United States. In 2009, Mary Bird Perkins became the first cancer center in Louisiana to establish a medical physics residency training program, which is required for eligibility for board certification from the American Board of Radiology.
Together with its partners at Willis Knighton Cancer Center and the University of Mississippi Medical Center, 33 medical physics residents have completed their training with the consortium. Those graduates have experienced a one-hundred percent job placement rate and enjoyed great success in completing their board certification examinations.
Photo Caption:
Pictured, l-r, Lydia Wang, graduate; Dr. Jonas Fontenot, chief of medical physics and chief operating officer, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, and Dr. Christopher Schneider, graduate.
About Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center
Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center is a regional cancer care organization that has been fighting cancer for 50 years. The cancer care organization provides care at nine centers in Baton Rouge, Covington, Hammond, Houma, Gonzales, Zachary and Natchez, Mississippi, and its service area encompasses southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi regions. For more information, please visit www.marybird.org.