Therapeutic Medical Physics Residency Program

APD with physcis residents in machine

The Therapeutic Medical Physics Residency Program aims to provide comprehensive training and practical experience to learners pursuing a career in medical physics, allowing them to contribute to the safe and effective use of radiation therapy in cancer treatment. The program aims to train residents to be clinically competent to a level of independent practice and to prepare to successfully sit for the ABR certification examinations.

Board-certified medical physicists supervise and provide structured education throughout the two-year program, ensuring residents gain clinical training and experience in medical physics, radiation oncology and other related specialties. The program follows the three major principles of training:

  • Understanding and Competency
  • Professionalism and Independent Practice
  • Leadership, Collaboration, and Continuing Development

This program holds accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP).

Program Leadership

Monica Kishore, M.S. — Program Director
Ms. Kishore is an assistant professor and serves as program director of the therapeutic medical physics residency program. Ms. Kishore obtained her bachelor’s degree in Physics from Haverford College and her master’s degree in Medical Physics from Duke University.

Stephanie Junell, Ph.D. — Associate Program Director
Dr. Junell is an associate professor of medical physics and serves as associate program director of the therapeutic medical physics residency program. She received her medical and doctorate degrees in Medical Physics from the University of Wisconsin.

Christopher Aguilera, M.S. — Associate Program Director
Mr. Aguilera is a medical physicist and serves as associate program director of the therapeutic medical physics residency program. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University and a master's degree in medical physics from Georgia Institute of Technology. He is based at the Mid-Columbia Medical Center, in The Dalles, Oregon.

John Bayouth, Ph.D. — Vice Chair, Director of Physics and Chief Medical Physicist
Dr. Bayouth is Professor of Radiation Medicine and Director of Physics at Oregon Health & Science University.  Nationally, he served in the presidential chain of both the American Association of Physics in Medicine (AAPM) and the Society of Directors of Academic Medical Physics Programs (SDAMPP) and within various committees of the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American Board of Radiology (ABR). He has many years of experience in intensity modulation radiation therapy treatment planning (IMRT), image guided radiation therapy (IGRT), respiratory gated imaging and radiation therapy, and functional imaging for treatment planning and response to therapy. His primary area of research is acquisition and analysis of 4DCT images to quantify longitudinal pulmonary functional changes following radiation therapy.

Dr. Bayouth has been co-investigator on the University of Iowa’s U01 application to establish a Quantitative Imaging Network (QIN) and using FLT PET imaging to define high functioning normal tissue regions for conformal avoidance of radiation therapy. He led the development of respiratory motion management in Radiation Therapy at the University of Iowa, including the respiratory training strategy, imaging acquisition approach, treatment planning, and gated delivery. He continues to acquire and analyze 4DCT images to quantify longitudinal ventilation changes following radiation therapy. At the University of Wisconsin,  Dr. Bayouth was responsible for the clinical implementation of the MRI-guided radiation therapy device (ViewRay), where patients were imaged daily providing a wealth of tumor and normal tissue response information. He was the PI of a clinical trial NCT02843568 designed to improve pulmonary function following radiation therapy that is active (129/139 subjects accrued), whose primary endpoint is acute toxicity.  His lab’s focus is now shifting to chronic toxicities (e.g. fibrosis).

Program Faculty

Amanda Swanson, M.S.
Ms. Swanson has been with OHSU for six months and is a clinical instructor and Medical Physicist in the Department of Radiation Medicine at OHSU. She received her B.A. in Physics and Chemistry from Reed College, and her M.S. in Medical Physics from OHSU. She completed her Radiation Oncology Medical Physics Residency with The Ohio State University.

Brandon Merz, M.S.
Mr. Merz is a medical physicist. He received a bachelor's degree in physics from University of Hawaii and a master’s degree in medical physics from University of Toledo.

Byron Wilson, Ph.D.
Dr. Wilson is an assistant professor in medical physics. He did his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia, creating an in-house optimization solution for cranial SRS. He then went to The Ottawa Hospital for his residency where he subsequently worked on automated contouring and workflow automation as a practicing medical physicist. He joined OHSU in 2022 and currently is an active contributor to the external beam clinical program, where he oversees the quality program of the Elekta linear accelerators, supervises the QA portion of the residency, teaches a radiotherapy lab course in medical physics and contributes to the brachytherapy program development and case load.

Junan Zhang, Ph.D.
Dr. Zhang is an associate professor of medical physics. He holds a doctorate and master’s degree in electrical engineering from University of California. His areas of interests are the development of a novel 4D CBCT approach using deformation maps & respiration modeling and scatter artifact reduction & image quality enhancement through modulating X-ray beam energy in the CBCT system.

Joe Foy, Ph.D.
Dr. Foy is an assistant professor of medical physics and practices in the Department of Radiation Medicine at OHSU. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago and completed his residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL. Dr. Foy has been with OHSU since July, 2022 and has since focused his efforts on teaching and mentoring graduate students as well as developing the brachytherapy and total body irradiation treatment programs.

Malcolm Heard, Ph.D.
Dr. Heard is an assistant professor of medical physics. He received a master’s and doctorate in medical physics from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston, Texas.

Affiliate Assistant Professor

Ruben Ter-Antonyan, Ph.D.
(PeaceHealth Vancouver)

Jed Schroeder, M.Sc.
(Legacy Hospital)

Keith Welsh, Ph.D.
(Legacy Hospital)

Ross Brody, Ph.D.
(Legacy Hospital)

Richard Crilly, Ph.D.

Program Director

Monica Kishore, M.S.

Monica Kishore, M.S., currently serves as the Physics Residency Program Director and previously held the position of President for the Northwest Chapter of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (NWAAPM). She earned a bachelor's degree in Physics from Haverford College and a master's degree in Medical Physics from Duke University. Following the completion of her physics residency in 2013, she became a member of the Radiation Medicine faculty. Additionally, she holds the position of Member-at-Large within the Educators’ Collaborative.