Medical Physics Specialization

Do you have a strong background in physics or engineering physics and mathematics? Are you interested in the application of physics to medicine? This graduate program has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP) since 2002.

Research interests are principally concentrated in four areas:

Medical Physics Website

Students are supervised by faculty in the division of Medical Physics.

Multi-Institutional Clinical Trials
In collaboration with the Division of Radiation Oncology, we were the first and are currently the only Canadian centre accruing patients to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) for prostate, lung and glioblastoma 3D-CRT clinical trials.
New Technologies
Commissioning, integration and development of new technologies (e.g. Tomotherapy and the Linac-MR Project) required for the clinical introduction of new techniques to aid in the improved treatment of cancer patients.
Radiotherapy Treatment Techniques
Development of new radiotherapy treatment techniques such as image guided adaptive radiotherapy (IGAR), three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, and intensity modulated radiotherapy.
Radiotherapy Planning Techniques
Development of radiotherapy planning techniques such as inverse planning, dose calculation algorithms including Monte Carlo simulations and simulated annealing techniques, and dose verification using imaging techniques.

Program Requirements:

On average, this program takes 2-3 years to complete and requires the following:

  • 14 approved graduate level courses (34 units)
    • 11 didactic courses (27 units)
    • 2 laboratory courses (4 units)
    • BME 320 or BME 321 (3 units)
  • 8 hours of academic integrity & ethics training
  • 8 hours of professional development training and an Individual Development Plan
  • Regular attendance at weekly Medical Physics seminars
  • Annual supervisory committee meetings
  • Successful defense of MSc. thesis

On average, this program takes 4-6 years to complete and requires the following:

  • 16 approved graduate level courses (37 or 40 units)
    • 11 didactic courses (27 units)
    • 1 or 2 advanced specialization courses (3 or 6 units)
      • Those in Magnetic Resonance Physics are required to take 6 units. Others are only required to take 3 units.
    • 2 laboratory courses (4 units)
    • BME 320 or BME 321 (3 units)
  • 8 hours of academic integrity & ethics training
  • 8 hours of professional development training and an Individual Development Plan
  • Regular attendance at weekly Medical Physics seminars
  • Annual supervisory committee meetings
  • Completion of PhD. candidacy exam
  • Successful defense of PhD

 

Departmental policies and procedures, on topics such as PhD candidacy exams, required courses, selecting Chairs for exams, and more can be found in our Oncology Graduate Student Handbook.

For information about general FGSR rules and regulations, such as thesis formatting, examining committee or supervisory committee composition, and more, can be found in the FGSR Manual.