Balancing work and family in medical physics

Level Up Your Career: How to Thrive as a Medical Physicist

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Lena Kashyap in Health & Wellness October 2026 • 4 min read.

"Uncover the hidden challenges and surprising solutions for achieving work-life balance and career success in medical physics."


The field of medical physics, like many STEM areas, faces ongoing challenges in achieving gender equity and supporting work-life balance for all professionals. While progress has been made in increasing the representation of women, significant hurdles remain, particularly in senior roles and in balancing career demands with family responsibilities. The Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM) conducted a workforce survey to investigate these issues and identify potential solutions.

This article delves into the qualitative findings of the ACPSEM survey, exploring the aspirations, motivations, and workplace experiences of both female and male members. We'll uncover key themes related to role models, work satisfaction, career progression, and the impact of organizational factors, offering a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities within the field.

Whether you're a seasoned medical physicist, a student considering this career path, or an employer seeking to create a more supportive environment, this article provides valuable insights and actionable strategies to foster a more equitable and thriving profession for everyone.

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Work-Life Balance in Medical Physics

Work-life balance is described as crucial to a long, successful, and happy career, yet it can feel difficult to achieve, particularly in the early and mid-career stages. The available accounts describe substantial variation across medical physics roles; one Reddit discussion suggests therapy physics in academic or clinical settings may have poorer balance than diagnostic consulting. These sources offer perspectives rather than a systematic comparison, so the role-specific contrast should be treated as an individual impression.

Breaking Barriers: Key Challenges & Solutions for Medical Physicists

Balancing work and family in medical physics

The ACPSEM survey revealed several interconnected challenges that impact the work-life balance and career progression of medical physicists, particularly women. These include:

To address these challenges and create a more equitable and supportive environment, the survey participants suggested several key strategies:

  • Finding & Cultivating Role Models: Seek out and connect with professionals who successfully balance their careers with personal lives. Mentorship can provide invaluable guidance and support.
  • Improving Management Skills: Encourage training for managers and administrators to develop skills in workload management, resource allocation, and flexible work arrangements.
  • Advocating for Change: Support initiatives that promote work-life balance, gender equity, and flexible career paths within the medical physics profession.
  • Promoting Flexible Work Arrangements: Implement policies that support part-time work, telecommuting, and flexible schedules to accommodate diverse needs and responsibilities.
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Workforce Research and Career Progression

Research on the Australian and New Zealand radiation oncology medical physics workforce has drawn on community surveys from 2006, 2009, and 2012, as well as a large facilities survey conducted by HealthConsult in 2009. Separate work has examined gender equity and research participation. A survey focused on diversity, equity, and inclusivity identified mentorship as one opportunity, alongside other strategies, to reduce bias against women and address barriers to professional development and career progression. Another report noted concerns about work-life balance and gender equity, and reported five vacant research full-time-equivalent positions in 2019.

Changing Models of Work

The cited workforce discussion maps a shift from the typical 9-to-5 setup toward work-from-home arrangements. It frames this change in terms of the pros and cons of each model. The source does not provide medical-physics-specific comparisons or quantify how either arrangement affects career outcomes.

By addressing these challenges and implementing these strategies, the medical physics profession can create a more inclusive and supportive environment that allows all individuals to thrive, regardless of gender or family responsibilities.

Empowering the Future of Medical Physics

The findings of the ACPSEM workforce survey highlight the need for ongoing efforts to address gender inequities and promote work-life balance within the medical physics profession. By implementing the strategies outlined in this article, we can create a more supportive and inclusive environment that empowers all individuals to reach their full potential.

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Projected Job Growth

Medical physicist employment projections differ across the listed sources. JobzMall reports an AAPM prediction of 14% job growth over the next ten years, while Zippia projects 8% growth from 2018 to 2028 and about 2,000 new U.S. jobs over the next decade. These are estimates with different time frames and should not be treated as directly equivalent. The sources therefore point to anticipated demand but do not establish a single agreed growth rate.

Career Progression and Equity

The article excerpt describes interconnected challenges affecting medical physicists’ work-life balance and career progression, particularly for women. It says ACPSEM survey participants suggested strategies to create a more equitable and supportive environment, but the supplied excerpt does not specify those challenges or strategies. The history source places the profession’s emergence in the late 19th century, when physics reshaped radiation-based medical diagnosis and treatment.

Research and Clinical Trial Support

Medical physicist Gemma Bale describes her day-to-day work as either running studies or analysing their results. She also explains that she designs medical devices and tests them in the laboratory and ultimately in the hospital. In a separate career case study, a medical physicist describes supporting new imaging agents through preclinical, clinical, and post-marketing phases, including technical and scientific support for clinical trials of diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals and PET agents in Europe and Asia.

It's essential for professional organizations, employers, and individual practitioners to actively champion these changes and create a culture that values both professional excellence and personal well-being. This commitment will not only benefit current medical physicists but also attract and retain future talent, ensuring a vibrant and thriving profession for years to come.

Ultimately, the success of medical physics depends on creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered to contribute their unique skills and perspectives. By working together, we can build a more equitable and fulfilling profession for all.

What the survey design can show

Because the analysis drew on open-ended answers, it captures participants’ descriptions rather than a count of how common each experience was. The response and analysis totals describe the material examined, but do not by themselves establish how representative those accounts are of the wider workforce.[1]

The reported experiences also sit within a broader set of social factors: the cited work notes that its design was not intended to explore intersectional effects. Its findings therefore do not settle how work–life integration may differ across overlapping social categories.[2]

How workforce evidence frames equity and work demands

Earlier Australian and New Zealand workforce research includes community surveys across several years, a facilities survey, and focused work on gender equity and research participation. This places the qualitative accounts within a longer-running workforce research effort, rather than making them the only kind of evidence available.[3]

A separate analysis of medical physicists’ work–life integration reported that, in an AAPM professional survey, substantial shares of university or medical-school-employed physicists worked long weeks; the cited responses also described work extending beyond treatment hours. This adds a work-hours context to concerns about balancing professional and personal responsibilities, but is not a direct comparison with the ACPSEM qualitative survey.[2]

Other evidence points to gender differences in leadership representation and reports that women respondents perceived childcare responsibilities as affecting career advancement and keeping up in the field. These findings give context to the article’s focus on equity, while reflecting different measures and sources from the qualitative accounts.[2] [4]

What evidence would clarify career barriers

  • How do the experiences described in open-ended survey answers vary across overlapping social categories that the cited work was not designed to examine?[1] [2]
  • How do perceptions of childcare effects relate to measured career advancement across different workforce groups?[2]

Sources

  1. Women and men in the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine: workforce survey. (doi.org, 2018)
  2. Gender Differences in Work–Life Integration Among Medical Physicists (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
  3. Report of the ACPSEM radiation oncology medical physics workforce modelling project task group (2021)
  4. The state of gender diversity in medical physics (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

About this Article -

Written with AI assistance from published research, and reviewed by the Mystum team. See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1007/s13246-018-0706-z, Alternate LINK

Title: Women And Men In The Australasian College Of Physical Scientists And Engineers In Medicine: Workforce Survey

Subject: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging

Journal: Australasian Physical & Engineering Sciences in Medicine

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Authors: Eva Bezak, Roksolana Suchowerska, Elizabeth Claridge Mackonis, Heath Pillen, Anna Ralston, Annette Haworth, Natalka Suchowerska

Published: 2018-11-02

Everything You Need To Know

1

What key findings came from the ACPSEM survey regarding medical physics?

The Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM) survey investigated the challenges within medical physics. It examined aspirations, motivations, and workplace experiences of members, uncovering key themes. These included role models, work satisfaction, career progression, and the impact of organizational factors. The survey aimed to understand the hurdles faced by medical physicists, particularly in achieving gender equity and work-life balance, offering insights into creating a more thriving profession.

2

Why are role models so important in medical physics?

The lack of role models, in the context of medical physics, particularly impacts career progression and work-life balance, especially for women. Role models provide guidance and support, demonstrating how to successfully navigate career demands and personal responsibilities. Finding and cultivating role models can provide invaluable support. They offer insights and strategies for managing the unique challenges within the field, such as workload management and advocating for change. The presence of role models can significantly improve work satisfaction and career progression.

3

What do flexible work arrangements look like and why are they important in medical physics?

Flexible work arrangements in medical physics involve policies that support part-time work, telecommuting, and flexible schedules. These arrangements are important to accommodate diverse needs and responsibilities, such as family obligations. The implementation of flexible work arrangements is crucial for creating a more inclusive and supportive environment. This directly addresses challenges related to work-life balance and gender equity, allowing medical physicists to thrive regardless of their gender or family responsibilities. This requires training for managers and administrators to develop skills in workload management and resource allocation.

4

What is work-life balance and why is it important in medical physics?

Work-life balance in medical physics is a significant challenge. It involves managing the demands of a career while maintaining a fulfilling personal life. The ACPSEM survey revealed that many medical physicists, particularly women, struggle with this balance. The strategies outlined in this article, such as finding role models and advocating for change, are designed to address these challenges. Work-life balance is crucial for career progression and job satisfaction within the field.

5

What does advocating for change entail in the context of medical physics?

Advocating for change in medical physics involves supporting initiatives that promote work-life balance, gender equity, and flexible career paths. This includes speaking up about issues and supporting policies and initiatives. This can lead to a more equitable and supportive environment, fostering a more inclusive profession. It directly addresses the interconnected challenges identified in the ACPSEM survey, such as the lack of role models and the absence of flexible work arrangements. By advocating for change, medical physicists can help to create a workplace where everyone can reach their full potential.

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