Medical Physics Courses & Curriculum

Fifteen medical physics course units (CU) at the graduate level will be required for the Master of Medical Physics (MMP) degree. With the exception of submatriculants admitted from Penn, students may not apply any graduate-level courses taken as undergraduates against that 15 CU requirement. The program will normally be completed full-time in four semesters, not including summer sessions. Exceptions for part-time study may be granted by the Program Director.

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Course Descriptions
• Electives

Year 1 Medical Physics Courses

During the first year, students will take the following 8 required medical physics courses (for a total of 7 medical physics course units):

• Mathematical Methods (or Electromagnetism I)
• Introduction to Radiation Protection
• Image-Based Anatomy (as required by the ABR)
• Medical Radiation Engineering
• Advanced Laboratory (with MP-specific experiments added)
• Electromagnetic Theory (or Electromagnetism II)
• Physics of Radiation Therapy
• Medical Ethics/Governmental Regulation

In addition, students will be required to complete an Introductory Practicum rotation, where they will be introduced to the various subspecialties of medical physics (radiation oncology, diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine, and medical health physics).

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Year 2 Medical Physics Courses

During the second year, all students will take the following 3 required medical physics courses (for a total of 3 medical physics course units):

• Physics of Medical Imaging
• Radiation Biology (as required by the ABR)
• Mathematics for Medical Imaging (or Molecular Imaging)

Students beginning their second year will be required to select an area of clinical concentration. Based on this area of clinical concentration, along with the guidance of their academic advisor or Program Director, students will select/arrange the following (for a total of 5 medical physics course units):

• 2 elective courses (from the list below)
• 1 Directed Study course
• 2 semesters of Clinical Practicum (with presentation)

• Quantitative Human Physiology
• Biological Physics
• Optics
• Cancer Biology
• Techniques of MRI
• Quantum Mechanics
• Quantitative Image Analysis
• Optical Imaging
• Probability and Statistics for Biotechnology
• Other course approved by Program Director

Seminar Series: Required, Non-Credit Medical Physics Course

All students in the MMP program will be required to attend the non-credit Medical Physics Seminar Series as part of their medical physics course requirements. This series will be clinically oriented and will survey the various subspecialties of medical physics.

Second year Clinical Practicum (with Presentation)

Each student is expected to spend approximately 250 hours, per semester of the second year, completing a Clinical Practicum in his or her chosen area of clinical concentration. With guidance from the practicum advisor, the student will also select an appropriate topic or project and will prepare a paper of appropriate length and presentation to be given at the end of the second semester.

A typical program (for a student selecting a radiation oncology concentration) would consist of:

First year, First semester medical physics courses:

• Mathematical Methods
• Introduction to Radiation Protection
• Image-Based Anatomy
• Medical Radiation Engineering
• Introductory Practicum
• Seminar Series

First year, Second semester medical physics courses:

• Electromagnetic Theory
• Advanced Laboratory
• Physics of Radiation Therapy
• Medical Ethics/Governmental Regulation
• Introductory Practicum
• Seminar Series

Second year, First semester medical physics courses:

• Physics of Medical Imaging
• Radiation Biology
• Elective
• Clinical Practicum (Radiation Oncology)
• Seminar Series

Second year, Second semester medical physics courses:

• Mathematics for Medical Imaging
• Elective
• Clinical Dosimetry
• Directed Study (Radiation Oncology topic)
• Clinical Practicum (Radiation Oncology) with Presentation
• Seminar Series

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Medical Physics Course Descriptions

• Mathematical Methods (PHYS 500): Concepts and techniques of classical analysis employed in physical theories. Topics include complex analysis, Fourier series and transforms, ordinary and partial equations and Hilbert spaces.
• Electromagnetism I (PHYS 561): Intermediate course covering electrostatic fields and potentials, dielectrics and direct currents.
• Introduction to Radiation Protection (MMP 501): Introduction to applied nuclear and atomic physics; radioactive decay; radiation interactions; biological effects and safety guidelines; radiation detection, instrumentation and protection.
• Image-Based Anatomy (MMP 511): Taught by a radiation oncologist, this medical physics course will focus on major organ systems and disease areas and be presented from a radiologic or imaging (including cross-sectional) viewpoint in addition to a standard anatomy and physiology presentation.
• Medical Radiation Engineering (PHYS 582): Radiation dosimetry fundamentals, quantities and units; external and internal dosimetry; calculations and measurements; neutron dosimetry; microdosimetry and its applications.
• Advanced Laboratory (PHYS 521): Directed experiments in classical, modern and medical physics introducing the student to modern laboratory instrumentation and techniques.
• Electromagnetic Theory (PHYS 516): Electrostatics and magnetostatics, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic waves and radiation.
• Electromagnetism II (PHYS 562): A continuation of PHYS 561 covering magnetic fields and potentials, electromagnetic induction, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic waves and radiation.
• Medical Ethics/Governmental Regulation (MMP 502): Fundamentals of professional ethics for medical physicist through exploration of Code of Ethics (published by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine); case studies; survey of governmental regulations pertinent to medical physics will be covered.
• Physics of Radiation Therapy (MMP 506): Clinical radiation oncology physics; principles of radiation producing equipment; photon and electron beams; ionization chambers and calibration protocols; brachytherapy, dose modeling and calculations, treatment planning.
• Physics of Medical Imaging (MMP 507): Physical principles of diagnostic radiology, fluoroscopy, computed tomography; principles of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging; radioisotope production, gamma cameras, SPECT systems, PET systems; diagnostic and nuclear medicine facilities and regulations.
• Radiation Biology (MMP 512): Fundamental knowledge of mechanisms and biological responses of human beings to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation through the study of effects of radiation on molecules, cells and man; radiation lesions and repair; mechanisms of cell death; cell cycle effect, radiation sensitizers and protectors; tumor radiobiology; relative sensitivities of human tissue and radiation carcinogenesis.
• Mathematics for Medical Imaging (MATH 584): Covers the basic principles of mathematical analysis, the Fourier transform, interpolation and approximation of functions, sampling theory, digital filtering and noise analysis.

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Electives

• Molecular Imaging (BE 583): This medical physics course provides a comprehensive survey of modern medical imaging modalities with an emphasis on the emerging field of molecular imaging.
• Quantitative Human Physiology (BE 505): Introduction to human physiology using the quantitative methods of engineering and physical science.
• Biological Physics (PHYS 580): A survey of basic biological processes at all levels of organization (molecule, cell, organism, population) in the light of simple ideas from physics.
• Optics (PHYS 530): Introduction to contemporary optics, including propagation and guiding of light waves, interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter, lasers, non-linear optics, coherent transient phenomena, photon correlation spectroscopies and photon diffusion.
• Cancer Biology (BMB 585): This course provides foundational information about the molecular basis of cancer.
• Techniques of MRI (BMB 581): A detailed survey of the physics and engineering of magnetic resonance imaging as applied to medical diagnosis.
• Quantum Mechanics (PHYS 531): Wave mechanics, complementarity and correspondence principles, semi-classical approximation, bound state techniques, periodic potentials, angular momentum, scattering theory, phase shift analysis and resonance phenomena.
• Quantitative Image Analysis (BE 546): This course focuses of different kinds of analysis methods along with brief reviews of mathematical background and examples of specific areas of biomedical application.
• Optical Imaging (BE 517): A modern introduction to the physical principles of optical imaging with biomedical applications.
• Probability and Statistics for Biotechnology (CBE 508): This course is designed as an overview of probability and statistics including linear regression, correlation, and multiple regressions.

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