Physics in Medicine

Gavin-Ryan

Im a sixth year student and im thinking of doing a medical physics course after school. could anyone tell me what exactly a hospital physicist does, is it a good, satisfying career? etc ive never heard of a hospital physicist untill a couple of months ago, can anyone enlighten me?

kevmy

Well if your interested there is a relatively new course in Medical Physics in NUI Galway. I think this year is the first year it's been offered

Link

I know some people who have done the one year masters course in medical physics which can be done after a regular physics degree. I also know some people who are doing PhD's on the subject.

It basically consists of knowing the working of all radiation machines from X-Rays to CT machines and how they investigate the body. The effects of radiation on the body are also studied. Things like the absorbed dose and equivalent dose are explained. Doctors know next to nothing about radiation so a medical physicist is important in the hospital. They have to set levels of safe radiation dose while also getting the information wanted and must insure that all the machines correspond to their supposed dose givings.
Other areas of study include developing better machines and models as well as dose calculations to insure the most efficient ways of killing cancer while giving the least amount of dose to the patient.
They also measure the amount of radiation given to doctors and nurses to make sure they do not suffer any effects to prolonged exposure to radiation.

Overall it's an interesting area and one where you will feel you are making a difference. I hope you that answers your question. PM me if it doesn't

eZe^

From a completely financial viewpoint as kevmy had a nice summary of what you'd be doing;

I talked to a girl who did physics in Oklahoma university, then did a 1 year masters and is now a qualified radiological/ medical physicist. She graduated in 1991 and her starting salary was 105,000 dollars. Thats gone up by 30,000 now. Not bad if you ask me.

barneysplash

Check out the Medical Physics and Bioengineering Department (MPBE)

in St. James's Hospital in Dublin.

This is their homepage, with plenty of contact and links:

http://www.stjames.ie/PatientsVisitors/Departments/MedicalPhysicsBioengineering/