Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Physics & Comp Sci > Medical Physics
Medical Physics is a branch of applied physics that uses physics to help diagnose and treat diseases. The medical physics major lays the ground work for further education in areas like magnetic resonance imaging, brain imaging, ultrasound imaging, radiation therapy and oncology.
This major is well suited for students preparing for medical school who enjoy physics. Moreover, this new major will facilitate the needs of those students who plan on going to graduate school in medical or health physics in addition to medical school.
In general, the course work required for a bachelor's degree in physics is the best preparation for graduate study in medical or health physics. Most advanced degree programs state the following requirements for graduate work:
Even though this is more rigorous than a pure physics major, it does preovide the required background for the student to be successful in graduate school. The required course load is 77 credits. More specifically, a student wishing to go to graduate school in medical physics would essentially have to have a physics major and a minor in chemistry and biology. This major puts those requirements together into one package.
You can find the current version of this document at http://web.presby.edu/physics/medical/. It was last updated on 19 April 2006.