Physical copy / Electronic book available on amazon.
Right now you're probably wondering what that strange, vibrant, multi-coloured image is.. It's a photo of a diffraction pattern through a clear cup lid, with a rotation transformation applied!
I'm Caleb Sample, a Canadian with a passion for science, mathematics, music, literature, animals, the universe... it goes on and on. I completed my physics PhD at the University of British Columbia in March 2024, and am now a medical physics resident at BC Cancer - Abbotsford.
The focus of my PhD research was on improving dose constraints for the salivary glands during radiotherapy so that treatment outcomes can be improved for future patients. I became involved in this investigation after meeting my research supervisor, Hal Clark, a clinical medical physicist at BC Cancer - Surrey, who had previously investigated the glands himself whilst doing his PhD.
This is an important problem, as more and more people are getting head-and-neck cancer, and it is common for these patients to finish radiotherapy with a severe loss in salivary function. Perhaps this sounds minor, but it severely diminishes one's quality-of-life. So if you are currently not having problems producing saliva, take a moment to be grateful for this aspect of your health! Seriously, don't scoff!
My PhD project involved a wide variety of techniques and studies, including:
In 2019 I graduated from the University of Northern British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Physics (honours) with a minor in Mathematics. Right afterwards, I came down to Vancouver to study at the University of British Columbia in the Physics MSc program. In 2020, I direct-transferred into the PhD program. I completed my studies in April, 2024, and I now live in Abbotsford, where I'm doing a medical physics residency at BC Cancer, Abbotsford.
In my opinion, studying physics requires no justification; who couldn't be interested in how the world works? From the very large, down to the very small; humans have developed amazing systems for predicting the behaviour of nature. In some ways, our current models have demonstrated uncanny success, but at the same time, one gets the sense that the surface hasn't even been scraped. While I do love physics theory and mathematics, I knew by the end of my undergraduate career that I wanted to work in an applied field. Medical physics was a natural choice to do this, as it is a growing field and has a clear, direct, and sometimes fast impact on society. I am deeply committed to applying myself to this field in order to play a small role in improving care for cancer patients.
I have recently self-published my first full-length novel, Just a Rat, which is available on amazon. This story is about laboratory rats who are trying to figure out what is happening to them. The description on the back reads:
Percy is a young laboratory rat, struggling to understand what is going on in his life. When he and his siblings are suddenly taken away from their parents at a young age and introduced to a new cage full of other young rats, strange things begin to happen. But surely, the 'food guy,' who's always fed him, played with him, and cleaned his cage can't be involved in any of this, can he? Will Percy be able to find the answers he so desperately searches for?
My curriculum vitae is available on this site.
Email: csample711@gmail.com
Phone: (1)-250-640-7948