Quantitative Medical Physics National Job Data Distribution Analysis

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the contemporary distribution of medical physics (MP) employment opportunities across the United States.

Methods and materials: An annual record (2018-2019) of advertised full-time MP jobs was created using publicly available information from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and Indeed websites. Listed jobs were categorized based on position name, work experience, job function, and geographic region. To account for regional population differences, a preponderance of employment opportunities per 10 million people was computed. Using Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs residency accreditation data, the nationwide locations of the MP training centers and the number of residency positions per annum were identified. A chi-square goodness-of-fit test was used for statistical analysis.

Results: A total of 441 unique MP jobs were identified nationwide per annum (2018-2019). The highest percentage of MP jobs was reported from the South region (33.6%), and the lowest (17.2%) was from the West. Analysis revealed that 148 jobs (33.6%) were academic and 293 (66.4%) were nonacademic. The South had the most academic jobs overall (31.8%), whereas the West had the fewest (13.5%). Regionally, the highest percentage of academic jobs (46.9%) was reported from the Northeast, whereas the West had the lowest percentage (26.3%). The analysis of academic versus nonacademic job comparison by regions showed statistically significant differences (P = .0133). The Midwest and the West regions, respectively, showed the highest (18.2) and lowest (10.24) number of jobs per unit population, measured in 10 million.

Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is one of the first national quantitative job data analyses of MP job distributions. This study revealed the level of demand for qualified candidates in 2018 to 2019, showing an imbalance between academic and nonacademic positions across the regions of the United States. Moreover, the geographic distribution of job listings deviated significantly from expectation given the relative population of each region.