Program Overview

Medical Physics, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

The Ph.D. in Medical Physics offers students coursework and research training in physics as it is applied to the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. The mission of the doctoral program is to serve the commonwealth of Virginia and the nation by helping to meet the demand for competent medical physicists in both the healthcare delivery and biomedical research settings.

Program Goals

The program will prepare students for careers as independent investigators in the field of medical physics and jointly for careers in university departments, research institutes, laboratories, and hospitals as trainee clinical medical physicists. Research areas include:

• Brachytherapy
• Hyperthermia
• Image-guided radiation therapy
• Intensity-modulated radiation therapy
• Proton therapy
• Medical imaging technologies
• Radiomics
• Image processing and reconstructions
• Functional imaging
• Novel treatment device fabrications
• Robotics
• 4-D treatment technology development

Professional Competency

To develop professional competency in medical physics by providing a framework in which students progressively develop a mastery of the current state of medical physics and an ability to synthesize this information and apply it in research and clinical settings.

Scientific Competency

To develop scientific competency in medical physics by providing a framework by which candidates develop skills to design, conduct, and implement theoretical and clinical research that answers identified questions.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Communication skills: The candidate should demonstrate an appropriate level of oral, written, and visual communication skills.
2. Experimental design: The candidate should demonstrate an appropriate level of skill in the theoretical and technical design of experimental procedures and the technical conduct of experimentation related to their research.
3. Knowledge of medical physics literature: The candidate should demonstrate a general knowledge of medical physics literature and a more detailed knowledge of their area of research.
4. Problem-solving: The candidate should demonstrate an appropriate level of skill in the identification of meaningful medical physics research problems and the design and implementation of appropriate problem-solving methods.

Admission Requirements

• Students must have a minimum of 30 credit hours in undergraduate physics, physical science, or engineering, of which at least 18 credit hours must be at the upper level.
• Background courses should include calculus one and two, linear algebra, differential equations, modern physics, and electricity and magnetism.

Degree Requirements

In addition to the general VCU Graduate School graduation requirements, students entering the program with an undergraduate degree are required to earn a minimum of 42 credit hours of graduate medical physics coursework. At least 19 credit hours must be earned at the 600 level or higher.

Course Requirements

Required Core Courses

• MEDP 561: Topographical Anatomy and Physiology (1 hour)
• MEDP 563: Radiological Physics and Radiation Dosimetry (3 hours)
• MEDP 564: Radiological Physics and Radiation Dosimetry Lab (1 hour)
• MEDP 567: Introduction to Radiation Therapy Physics (3 hours)
• MEDP 601: Health Physics (3 hours)
• MEDP 630: Radiobiology for the Medical Physicist (3 hours)
• MEDP 633: Advanced Radiation Therapy Physics (4 hours)
• MEDP 635: Physics of Diagnostic Imaging (3 hours)
• MEDP 636: Physics of MRI (3 hours)
• MEDP 637: Physics of Nuclear Medicine (2 hours)
• MEDP 689: Medical Physics Literature Review (1 hour)
• OVPR 602: Responsible Scientific Conduct, or OVPR 601: Scientific Integrity, or OVPR 603: Responsible Conduct of Research (1 hour)

Elective Courses

Select a minimum of three credit hours from the following:

• BIOS 543: Graduate Research Methods I
• BIOS 544: Graduate Research Methods II
• HGEN 611: Data Science I
• HGEN 612: Data Science II
• MEDP 682: Clinical Rotations in Medical Physics
• STAT 543: Statistical Methods I
• STAT 544: Statistical Methods II
• STAT 641: Applied Data Analysis

Dissertation Research

• MEDP 697: Directed Research (11 credits minimum)

Typical Plan of Study

Many students often end up taking more than the minimum number of hours required for a degree program. The total number of hours may vary depending upon the program, nature of research being conducted, or in the enrollment or funding status of the student.

Graduation Requirements

As graduate students approach the end of their academic programs and the final semester of matriculation, they must make formal application to graduate. No degrees will be conferred until the application to graduate has been finalized.

Degree Candidacy Requirements

A graduate student admitted to a program or concentration requiring a final research project, work of art, thesis, or dissertation must qualify for continuing master's or doctoral status according to the degree candidacy requirements of the student's graduate program. Admission to degree candidacy, if applicable, is a formal statement by the graduate student's faculty regarding the student's academic achievements and the student's readiness to proceed to the final research phase of the degree program.