The challenge facing academic radiotherapy physics in the UK

Medical physics has been central to the scientific and technical development of radiotherapy since its inception as a treatment modality for cancer patients. Radiotherapy centres, as well as delivering a safe and effective cancer treatment, are routinely implementing innovations into the clinic (Jacobs et al 2016) and physicists are central to innovation generation and innovation adoption. Bortfeld and Jeraj (2011) highlighted the historic achievements of physics research in radiation therapy (radiotherapy) and argued for the continuing role, and need to develop academic medical physics and radiotherapy physics research. Following up on this, Bortfeld et al (2015) identified the potential risk of the radiotherapy physics profession having only a clinical physicist role and argued strongly for the need for academic positions. This was supported more recently by Klein et al (2017) who highlighted the need for physicists who can adapt to changes caused by the rapid evolution and expansion of radiotherapy technology and imaging options within the clinic. The recent review of global radiation therapy research by Aggarwal et al (2018) highlighted physics research as an important metric and area of research within radiation therapy