Career Questions in Medical Physics

[curryotoko]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a U.S. citizen who wants to get a PhD from the U.K. in medical physics. I want to know if I will be on equal grounds as I apply for the same job as someone from a CAMPEP accredited U.S. University. Is there anything I should know or do to make me an eligible choice in the U.S. besides going to a U.S. University?

The second question is what type of math is most common in the medical physics field? I have taken an introduction course in medical physics and the math used was mostly algebra. I wish my university offered more classes in the medical physics field but I'll have to wait until I get to my PhD to take more.

Thank you

 

[Choppy]

The UK has a different system. The main concern I would have is whether or not a UK program would qualify you to write your certification exams. The rule as I understand it, is that you need to come from a CAMPEP-accredited program and to my knowledge, the UK does not have any. And not having certification will greatly reduce the number of jobs you qualify for.

Most of the math that you would need in medical physics is covered in a standard undergraduate physics program. You need to be comfortable with Fourier transforms and convolutions to do most of the imaging stuff - so up to and including a 'mathematical methods for physicists' course is usually enough. Depending on the research you end up doing, you could need something a little more specialized. For routine clinical work the math involved is usually not too complicated though.