General Radiological Medical Physics Certificate

The field of Radiological Medical Physics is the study of the use of radiation to diagnose and treat human diseases and is a relative newcomer in medically-related scientific disciplines. The first “radiological physics” practitioners were trained in the basic sciences, typically physics. Dedicated radiological medical physics education programs are a recent phenomenon. These programs strive to combine the scientific and medical aspects of the field but they remain small and few in number.

To help meet the demand for workers in radiological medical physics, it has been common over the past 40 years to accept persons with closely related scientific backgrounds into the field and provide them with on-the-job training. Even today, a large fraction of practicing radiological medical physics have degrees in fields other than radiological medical physics. Many of these are leaders in the field and their contributions have been and will remain very important. Their work experience has traditionally provided the pathway into certification for these radiological medical physicists. However, given the recent changes adopted by the medical physics education community, these potential outside candidates must document completion of a basic core curriculum in radiological medical physics in addition to a Ph.D. degree received in a closely related discipline in order to qualify for certification by the American Board of Radiology (ABR) in radiological physics.

Admission Requirements

1.  Applicants must satisfy the minimum requirements of the Graduate School for admission to a Graduate Certificate. These are the same requirements applied to applicants seeking Post Baccalaureate status.

2.  Applications for the General Radiological Medical Physics Graduate Certificate must be submitted in accordance with the procedures of the Graduate School.

3.  Applicants must satisfy one of the following conditions:

• Have successfully completed ANA 209 Human Anatomy (3), PGY 206 Human Physiology (3), and RM/PHY 472G Interactions of Radiation with Matter (3) or their equivalents; or
• Take these courses concurrently with the General Radiological Medical Physics Graduate Certificate. Fulfillment of this requirement is as determined and/or approved by the certificate director.

4.  Applicants to the General Radiological Medical Physics Certificate must meet one of the following conditions:

• Be concurrently enrolled in a Ph.D. graduate degree program in Physics, Engineering, or other closely related scientific program at an accredited University; or
• Have previously earned a Ph.D. graduate degree in Physics, Engineering, or other closely related scientific program from an accredited University.

5.  Acceptance in the General Radiological Medical Physics Graduate Certificate is at the discretion of the certificate director and is based, in part, on the candidates past academic history. The certificate director may request additional information be provided by the applicant to aid in the evaluation process.

The Graduate Certificate in Radiological Medical Physics requires 16 credit hours as follows: