‘Medical Physics is really cool – I get to directly apply my physics knowledge to finding solutions to problems which are going to help people,’ says Alicia, whose research is in the area of radiation oncology. She is developing a completely new instrument which will accurately measure tiny radiation dosages used in cancer treatment.

‘In order to treat cancer,’ she explains, ‘radiotherapy is often used to kill tumour cells, but the radiation can do a lot of damage to the healthy tissues surrounding the tumour. Microbeam radiotherapy is an exciting new development where a synchrotron [large particle accelerator, about the size of a football field] is used to create the x-rays that can irradiate tumour cells while sparing healthy tissue. This means that we can use more radiation on the cancer itself. Because of the really tiny size of these microbeams they are difficult to measure exactly, but to treat people safely, we have to be really accurate. So I am working on a new method of dosimetry [measuring radiation dose].’

Alicia plans to switch to studying towards her PhD part-time soon, when she starts a job as a medical physics registrar at Christchurch Hospital. This will be part of her clinical training and will lead to becoming a qualified medical physicist. It is a role she is looking forward to. ‘As a registrar in the hospital I will get to encounter all aspects of the radiotherapy process, from patient assessment, to quality assurance and radiation safety.

‘After I qualify, I intend to work overseas for a few years, to get access to some of the new techniques in radiotherapy, and then return home and help implement these techniques in New Zealand hospitals,’ she says.

Alicia chose to come to UC because she felt it had strong departments for her undergraduate subjects. ‘I really enjoyed studying here, mainly because the lecturers were really helpful, and often included discussion in the lectures about their own research. This meant it was much easier to get an understanding of the topics and applications, as well as making them enjoyable.’

‘UC also offers lots of great summer scholarships, and I was able to earn some money doing research in my field over the summer, rather than trying to find a boring, unrelated summer job.’

Although she hadn’t set out with a PhD in mind, Alicia found her degree prepared her well for her research. ‘The main benefit was not just the content of my courses, but also the emphasis placed on learning how to write academically, research literature, and think analytically. At the time I didn’t realise how useful all of this would prove.’

Alicia has plenty of advice for prospective students. ‘If you want to study Physics, I would recommend you do a wide range of Physics papers, and lots of Mathematics papers, to keep your options broad for research later on. It is also nice to do some papers in a completely different field, just to keep some perspective. But my main advice for new students is: don’t be afraid to go and chat to your lecturers – most people are more than happy to help out, and you can learn a lot this way.’

Alicia Cavan postgraduate student page