Medical Physics

Stream Leader

TBC - email natsci@ucl.ac.uk for queries

Aims

Medical Physicists work at the interfaces between physics and the life sciences, applying their skills to healthcare problems in the diagnosis, treatment and management of disease. Students following this stream will be given a solid introduction to the subject and the opportunity to explore a variety of core topics in greater depth.

Objectives

Students who complete this stream will understand:

• The development, physical basis and typical applications of the main medical imaging modalities (introductory level)
• The development and physical basis of a variety of physiological measurements commonly made in healthcare (introductory level)
• Depending on course options, the physical basis and typical applications of: magnetic resonance imaging; ultrasound imaging and Doppler flowmetry; x-ray imaging; nuclear medicine; biomedical optics; and treatment using ionising radiation

Year 1

All Medical Physics stream students must take:

• Mathematics for Natural Sciences A (NSCI0005)
• Modern Physics, Astronomy and Cosmology (PHAS0011)
• Waves, Optics and Acoustics (PHAS0005)
• Linear Algebra and Vector Calculus (NSCI0027)

Year 2

All Medical Physics stream students must take:

• Physics of the Human Body (MPHY0005)
• Introduction to Biophysics (MPHY0006)
• Electricity and Magnetism (PHAS0021) (or later altenatively Classical Mechanics and Electromagnetism (NSCI0033))

and can choose 0 - 15 credits from:

• Mathematical Methods III (PHAS0025)

Year 3

All Medical Physics stream students majoring must take all 45 credits and students minoring take 30 - 45 credits of the following:

• Medical Imaging with Ionising Radiation (MPHY0016)
• Biomedical Ultrasound (MPHY0018)
• Treatment with Ionising Radiation (MPHY0038)

Students majoring should further choose 15 - 30 credits of the following:

• Applications of Biomedical Engineering (MPHY0039)
• Practical Physics 3 (For Natural Sciences) (PHAS0054)

Year 4

All students majoring in Medical Physics take:

• Research Project in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering (Masters Level) (MPHY0036) - MSci Research Project

Students majoring take 45 credits and students minoring take 0 - 30 credits of the following:

• Physiological Monitoring (MPHY0015)
• MRI and Biomedical Optics (MPHY0019)
• Computing in Medicine (MPHY0020)
• Programming Foundations for Medical Image Analysis (MPHY0030)
• Medical Electronics and Neural Engineering (MPHY0037)
• Applications of Biomedical Engineering (MPHY0039) (if not already taken in Year 3)

The Medical Physics stream combines with:

• Neuroscience and Psychology
• History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science