Physics Alumni Success Stories
Dr. Lisa (Genovese) Whitelock (2010)
Lisa Genovese took an interest in physics at an early age. After completing her undergraduate degree in Physics from Grand Valley State University in 2010, she chose to apply her knowledge to the medical field by pursing a graduate degree. She enjoys the hands-on aspects of medical physics and joined KGHP after completing her Professional Doctorate in Diagnostic Medical Physics at Vanderbilt University in 2014. She has also obtained her diagnostic medical physics certification through the American Board of Radiology. She enjoys teaching and is passionate about physics education, especially with the general public. Her career goals include becoming an active committee member of AAPM and mentoring young women in science.
Read her story:
Why Physics?
Lisa’s interest in physics was piqued in high school. She enjoyed reading books on theoretical physics and exploring how the world works. “When I was in high school, I picked up my brother’s copy of Michio Kaku’s Hyperspace and was hooked! I didn’t understand 90% of the content but I loved reading it.”
Using Physics
As an undergraduate at Grand Valley State University, Lisa enjoyed the hands-on work that physics labs offered. During her junior year, Lisa attended a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at the SETI Institute. She studied meteor showers and their parent bodies with Dr. Peter Jenniskens. This experience was fundamental in shaping her career path. She enjoyed her summer at SETI but opted to pursue an applied physics career.
Upon her return from the REU at SETI, Lisa’s parents and Dr. Doug Furton introduced her to the world of medical physics. She job shadowed a therapy medical physicist at MidMichigan Regional Medical Center (now MidMichigan Health) in Midland, MI, and this really sparked her interest. More research into this career path revealed two options for graduate school: therapy medical physics and diagnostic medical physics.
“Once I found out about diagnostic medical physics, I knew it was the career for me. Radiation physics is fascinating!” Lisa attended the four-year professional doctorate program for diagnostic medical physics at Vanderbilt University where she participated not only in clinical work but also in research. She had the opportunity to conduct image quality comparisons across three different computed tomography systems.
After graduating in 2014, Lisa was hired at Krueger-Gilbert Health Physics as a junior physicist. She has since completed her board exams. She enjoys her work and also volunteers at a local community college teaching a physics module for the x-ray technologist students. Working for a consulting company allows Lisa to set her own schedule and frequently work from home. She enjoys being out of the office and on the road seeing clients.
Advice for Students
“Getting hands-on experience is one of the most important pieces of advice I can offer,” says Lisa. Taking every opportunity in undergrad to explore career paths is incredibly helpful when deciding on graduate school programs. “I love my career and am thankful for every experience that led me to choosing this path.”
It is never too late to change your mind. “When I started at GVSU, I was undecided and taking business finance courses. I switched majors and am so thankful that I made that decision!”
"Being a part of GVSU physics program has been an amazing experience. The challenging classes always kept me on my toes, and the close-knit department will always be like family to me. I would not trade my time with the physics department for anything!"
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