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.
Hi, so the user is currently a physics undergrad considering a career in medical physics. The user recently left their research lab in optical physics since they did not enjoy it. The user only worked in this lab for a few months with no publications. The user is concerned about how much of a hindrance a lack of undergraduate research would be for medphys admissions, as they have no intention of pursuing a research career and are more interested in the clinical side.
Response 1: It depends on the graduate school, but many MS students successfully obtain a residency. A quality thesis project on top of academic success can go a long way. Fitting in extra clinical experience during the MS is often helpful as well. From the understanding of the responder, DMP programs are being phased out. If the user is able to get into a strong graduate program (definitely CAMPEP accredited), the responder would recommend MS to residency over DMP, simply from a financial standpoint.
Response 2: Not having publications as an undergraduate should not be a hindrance, and in fact, is the norm for undergraduates entering grad school.
The user is concerned about the chances of residency. After looking at stats, programs seem to only accept 1-2 people out of tens of applicants. The user's school offers a DMP and wants to know if it would be a safer and more worthwhile path compared to just a master's degree.
Response 1: It depends on the graduate school, but many MS students successfully obtain a residency. A quality thesis project on top of academic success can go a long way. Fitting in extra clinical experience during the MS is often helpful as well. From the understanding of the responder, DMP programs are being phased out. If the user is able to get into a strong graduate program (definitely CAMPEP accredited), the responder would recommend MS to residency over DMP, simply from a financial standpoint.
Response 2: Not having publications as an undergraduate should not be a hindrance, and in fact, is the norm for undergraduates entering grad school.
The user wants to know if they can apply for CAMPEP accredited graduate or certificate programs now that they've completed their master's in medical physics in India. They also want to know their options for further study abroad, except for a Ph.D.
Response 1: CAMPEP certificate programs are exclusively for Ph.D. holders from Physics or closely related fields. The user will need to look at doing a second MS from a CAMPEP medical physics program.
Response 2: Certificate CAMPEP programs are only for people who have a Ph.D. in science or engineering. The user very likely can apply to CAMPEP graduate programs assuming they've had calculus and physics. If the user can arrange to shadow a medical physicist, that might look good on their application.
The user wants to know what medical physics assistants usually do in the clinic. They also want to know if they need to get a master's degree in medical physics or if a bachelor's degree in physics is enough to get MPA jobs.
Response 1: Medical physics assistants usually fall into one of two groups. The first group has a bachelor's degree in science/engineering and it is a great job to get your feet wet and see if medical physics is for you. The second group has a master's degree in medical physics but did not get into residency. The work of MPAs depends on the clinic's needs, the employee's background, and how comfortable the staff is with the MPA. It can range from daily/monthly QA, patient QA, helping physicists with projects and research, helping with annual QA or commissioning, independent projects, procedure writing, organizing data, and more.
Response 2: A bachelor's degree in a physical science/engineering is generally all that is required for MPAs.
The user is an international student, a senior undergrad in physics, applying to medical physics master's programs. They have received two rejection letters and haven't heard back from any other schools. The user wants to know what they can do over the next year to better prepare themselves and reapply. They are considering applying to introductory jobs in the industry as it is hard to find a job in hospitals for physics bachelors.
Response 1: It is possible the user might be able to find a medical physicist assistant job. Working for vendors/manufacturers should be good. If the user can shadow a medical physicist, they might be able to include specifics in their application letter. The responder assumes the user has already researched to make sure the schools they're applying to accept international students and that they have fulfilled the prerequisite courses.
Response 2: The user attended a U.S. college for all four years of undergrad, so prerequisites are pretty much fulfilled. The user shadowed a medical physicist at their university hospital last year, which confirmed their interest in pursuing MedPhys and was mentioned in their SOP. Getting a medical physics assistant job is something the user will look into.
Original URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/MedicalPhysics/comments/1181sps/training_tuesday_weekly_thread_for_questions/