This is the place to ask questions about graduate school, training programs, or general basic career topics. If you are just learning about the field and want to know if it is something you should explore, this thread is probably the correct place for those first few questions on your mind.
Hey all, a question regarding drug screening before residency.
I've always been in and out of smoking cigarettes and weed.
Anxious times like this , I smoke 3 to 6 cigarettes a day and as for weed, every Friday night where I smoke one joint 2 to 3 hrs just to relax and put my mind off somewhere.
As interviews for the residency progresses, I was learning about an on boarding process and soon found out that for medical residency, drug screening almost always happens.
I tried to find a relevant information for the physics residency and there aren't much.
Now, obviously my 'coping method' just isn't worth it when comparing to the risk of sabotaging my career path; and today I ordered self testing kit for THC and started a complete abstinence.
Is there anyone that has any knowledge about a drug screening before residency? Any will help tremendously.
Many thanks in advance
Hello! I'm a high schooler who's curious about the medical physics field; what is the difference between a radiation therapist and a medical physicist? Thank you!
A radiation therapist typically has a bachelor’s degree and assists in setting up a patient on a medical linear accelerator before turning the machine on so it can deliver a preset amount of radiation to the patient in hopes of completely destroying or shrinking a tumor.
A therapy medical physicist typically has a MS or PhD and is responsible for keeping the linear accelerator properly tuned so that the radiation that comes from the machine is the same as the very first day it was used for treatment. The secondary role a medical physicist will take is ensuring the preset plan that the therapists will deliver is actually achievable and also safe for the patient to receive.
Many times the physicist will have additional roles in the clinic such as planning special procedures, doing research, and teaching in some aspect.
There are also different types of medical physicists outside therapy medical physics. Imaging Medical Physicists is a subsection of medical physics that handles the calibration of medical imaging machines (MR, CT, US, etc.)
If you’re really interested I would suggest reaching out to a local medical physicist and see if you can follow them around for a day. Shadowing them is a good way to learn about the job.
Id like to know if I should take a year of work in a clinic(the clinic specialises in SRS) or go do an internship/work in a research hospital where I'll be collaborating on what's being researched (its gonna be about carbon ion therapy) and also do a bit of clinic work on the side. This work year will be after my finishing my masters and after that work year I plan to apply for Phds. Which one is good to do and an advantage in my Phd application? A bit of background, My grades are 3.8 undergrad and set for a 3.6-3.7 on my masters. Ill be doing some clinic experience and research project stuff starting in march and finishing in September.
If you're set on going to the PhD then more research experience will definitely be helpful, so the latter. But for normal clinical jobs or residency the former will probably be of more immediate use, especially since carbon ion therapy is and will remain a niche subject for a very long time.
Ahh that's grand then , thank ywu
Hey guys! Just wondering if anybody knows about the scope for medical physicists in Australia. Is it difficult to find a job? How’s the pay? And how’s your job life if you’re a fellow medical physicist. Any insight would be a great help!! (Also I’m a biomedical science graduate who got a master of medical physics offer and was wondering if it’s hard for a non physics background student to fit in).
i hope i am not violating the rules , but I am 16 years old., and ill be traveling to canada , and study in their universities, tbh i love physics so much so much that i dont really know ,which field to pick bc i dont mind them all they are all fun and i experienced all of them
i worked so hard tbh and i finished all highschool physics (i study the international A level physics syllabus,) and i expanded my knowledge to cover all 3 ap physics courses , and calc 1 and calc 2, planing to study calc 3 and linear algebra and differential equations (uni level) ( am not braging but am trying to confirm on the idea that i can do it)
and now i have even more time to expand my knowledge in more advanced physics, so here comes the question , i am really trying to choose a field that is lucrative . i either want to study medical physics or electrical engineering , but most likely medical physics, bc i want a **guaranteed** field,bc u guys know that EE have high demand in terms of admissions,
anyways my question is, do u guys recommend me to study A level biology , here is the syllabus if u guys are interestedin seeing the syllabus[https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/664560-2025-2027-syllabus.pdf](https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/664560-2025-2027-syllabus.pdf)plz guys i am taking 4 A levels , chem physics math and further math, and i am really lost, am not sure whether i should take bio or not, , and btw if i took it i can manage the 5 a levels load. but at the same time i dont wanna waste time, i would rather study uni physics and math, , ik that this might be dumb like why the hell am studying advanced stuff ,,, but the idea is , i might not have the ability to study for a long period of time in the future , bc i might have to work and study . so plz guys is the biology of medical physics manageable, do i really need highschool bio. or the bio behing medical physics is really a very very small bracnh of bio such that i can do it easily later. in terms of uni, they require 3 A levels,. and bio isnt required for studying physics, so i am not worried abt admissions, so plz guys i really need ur help. sorry if it was so long, btw i am talking about radiation therapy and medical imaging stuff , when i refer to medical physics, not the research department
Minimum you need for MedPhys is 1 semester of anatomy and 1 semester of physiology. Can you take those courses specifically? If not, biology would be okay but it may not be super helpful. I’d take a few English or writing classes too because that is a big part of the career as well when you start working towards your PhD. I also wasn’t sure if you’re starting university in Canada or just taking classes. If you’re starting, also take some easy classes that might be different from your interests. Some examples of ones I took were Bowling and Japanese Government History. You’re going to focus on your harder classes so mixing some fun in your academic schedule is a good thing to do.
oh alright thanks for accentuating the part of anatomy and physiology, A level biology , doesnt teach u that much in anatomy and physiology i, i wont take bio.
tbh i hope they accept me in the anatomy and physiology course given that i dont have high school biology knowledge, but ig it is fine. since it would be all abt memorizing and i would forget the knowledge i have in bio ,. thanks for the advise tho ill take that into consideration , thank u again for ur time and i am so sorry to disturb u
I see many medphysicist go to work in hospitals or stay in academia, but how is to work in industry? Working in developing or imporving devices ? Is it even possible?
Yeah that's the second most common job after clinical work. There's an ongoing seminar series about non-clinical careers from AAPM now.
Is a change of track common when going into your PhD? For example, Radiotherapy in your masters then Diagnostic for PhD?
For Medical Physicists who have academic duties (teaching etc) and clinical duties, what’s the work-life like? Is it more or less the same as just being fully clinical? Is pay comparable?
Hi everyone!
I have a question about the required courses for a minor in physics needed for certification/grad school admission. The courses for my upper level classes in physics are classical mechanics, laser physics, and quantum computing. These are all classes offered by the physics department at a large R1 university and count towards a minor at my university. My question is are these upper level physics courses acceptable for medical physics admission? I know they are not what a lot of people have in mind when they say minor in physics. I am also intetested in pursuing a PhD and eventually going into diagnostic imaging if this is relevant. I would appreciate any feedback!
The official campep minimum requirements are a physics minor consisting of at least 3 upper level undergraduate courses. However, depending on where you apply, each program may require or prefer different undergrad classes.
For instance, most of the programs I applied to required (or strongly preferred) E&M and modern physics and lab. While you may be considered above the minimum requirements, it may be possible for specific programs that you are at a disadvantage to others if you are missing the preferred pre requisites.
Probably depends on where in the world you are and the criteria of the medical physics program you're considering applying to, but you'd probably be fine.
If there's a modern physics or nuclear physics course available to you, I'd consider taking those as well.
Thanks for the reply! There is a course like modern physics available for me to take but at my university but it is only a sophomore level course so it would not count as an upper level course. I could take it in the Spring if that would be helpful!
Original URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/MedicalPhysics/comments/10px85n/training_tuesday_weekly_thread_for_questions/