Opportunities for International Students in US Medical Physics Training Programs

[Toni103]

Hi,

I'm currently doing an honours degree in Physics with Medical Physics and Bioengineering in Ireland. And generally here after the degree if you wanted to continue into a medical physics career you would do a masters then apply for a kind of 'training program' (or junior physicist position) in a hospital after a couple of years you would generally be considered qualified or a 'senior physicist'. Some lucky few can get a working masters position where they study part time for the masters and work part time in the hospital. In this kind of a position the hospital pay for the masters and also pay the student for the work they do in the hospital (not much but enough to pay rent).

I'm looking to find out if after my degree if it would be possible to do this kind of working master in the US? I'm an Irish citizen so I'm also not sure of the visa situation and if non US citizens or degree holders would be considered for positions like this. Also I know there is a big difference in the cost of college in the US so if people in a position like this would get paid? Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[Choppy]

Some (but not all) graduate programs in medical physics in north america support their graduate students through stipends or bursaries. In most places you have the opportunity to perform quality assurance work, which generally pays quite well for a student. You'd have to look at specific programs for specific answers. International students are often hit with much higher tuition fees though.

Some intitutions are also looking at a professional medical physics degree, which essentially combines the residency (clinical training) with a master's degree and awards the title "doctor of medical physics." One concern in such a system is that you end up paying someone else to complete your residency.

You may also want to consider some of the Canadian programs that are CAMPEP accredited.

 

[Toni103]

Thanks Choppy. I'm starting to get more of an idea about the American system with some research. It doesn't help that google knows I'm in Ireland and puts all the Irish results first even in google.com :) I hadn't considered Canada even though I spent a summer there and heard a lot about medical physics so thanks for putting that idea in my head.