Graduate Core Curriculum for the Ph.D. Degree in Medical Physics

Required Coursework

Notes

• HSCI 312 is required for students that do not have equivalent coursework upon entry into the program.
• Upon entry into the program, students are expected to have completed the equivalent of two semesters of anatomy and physiology. Students that have not completed prior course work in anatomy and physiology are required to take BIOL 301 and 302, BIOL 203 and 204, or BMS 510 (Gross Anatomy).
• STAT 512 can be substituted for STAT 511
• Students may substitute a research project (HSCI 590 Special Topics in Medical Physics) for one semester of clinical rotation.

Radiological Science Electives

• HSCI 313 Principles of Radiation Detection and Measurement
• HSCI 322L Radiation Dosimetry Lab
• HSCI 526 Principles of Health Physics and Dosimetry
• HSCI 534 Applied Health Physics
• HSCI 590 Radiation Oncology Physics Laboratory
• HSCI 590 Special Topics (in Medical Physics)
• STAT 311 Introductory Probability
• CS 314 Numerical Methods (3 credit hours)
• BIOL 415 Introduction To Molecular Biology
• HK 445 Principles of Epidemiology
• CS 478 Introduction to Bioinformatics
• MA 527 Advanced Mathematics For Engineers And Physicists I
• AT 572 Human Error
• MA 416 Probability
• MA 527 Advanced Math for Engineering & Physics I
• NUPH 530 Applied Nuclear Pharmacy
• NUPH 550 Introduction to PET
• BIOL 516 Molecular Biology of Cancer
• PHYS 360 Quantum Mechanics
• PHYS 550 Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
• PHYS 556 Introductory Nuclear Physics
• PHYS 564 - Introduction To Elements Particle Physics I
• PHYS 565 - Introduction To Elementary Particle Physics II
• PHYS 580 Computational Physics

Students entering the medical physics graduate program are expected to be proficient in at least one programming language, usually C or Fortran, and the UNIX or Linux operating system. They are also expected to have completed a course in differential equations and one in modern physics. Students can be accepted on to the program conditionally without this pre-requisite knowledge but must complete the relevant coursework and achieve a grade A or B before formal acceptance in to the program. A total of 90 residency hours is required for the Ph.D. degree. These residency hours may be any combination of course credit hours or research credit hours. Up to 30 hours may be credited for an M.S. degree upon recommendation of the Ph.D. graduate student's advisory committee and this may include all required coursework and the clinical rotation if the equivalent has recently been taken. No more than 6 credit hours of coursework at the 300 or 400 level is allowed to form part of the student's Ph.D. degree plan of study.

The clinical rotation is performed under the direct supervision of a qualified medical physicist at an affiliated hospital or medical center and is co-supervised by a School of Health Sciences faculty member. The faculty supervisor in consultation with the clinical co-supervisor performs a competency based grading of the clinical rotation.

IMPORTANT: To be eligible for American Board of Radiology (ABR) certification in radiologic physics, you must hold a bachelor's degree in physics or applied physics. Other physical science or engineering degrees may be considered if the appropriate fundamental physics courses have been completed equivalent to a minor in physics (including general physics with calculus and upper level courses in, for example, electricity and magnetism, atomic physics, nuclear physics, modern physics, quantum mechanics, or mechanics). For additional information about ABR certification, please see http://theabr.org/.

Completion of the Ph.D. thesis is a major requirement for this degree.

Semester and year requirements are effective for the new student: Fall 2009
Approved by the Faculty Committee August 13, 2009.

NOTICE: Graduate courses taken while registered as a graduate student at Purdue University may be considered for fulfilling the plan of study requirements only if the student has received grades of C or better. For courses at the 300 or 400 level taken as a graduate student or courses that represent either undergraduate or graduate excess credit or transfer credit, grades of B or better are required for fulfilling plan of study requirements.