medical physics

[butsurigakusha]

I have been looking into medical physics as one an option. I really love physics, and I definitely want a career as a physicist. From what I have observed, there really doesn't seem to be much physics in biophysics. I may be wrong, however. So I am wondering about medical physics. Does anyone know if medical physics is very physics intensive. Will someone like me, who really likes physics, and is not terribly interested in things like biology and anatomy, find medical physics very intellectually satisfying? Actually, I am sure there is a wide variety within in the field, and some areas may be more physics-like than others. Any thoughts?

[tnoviell]

You're correct that biophysics isn't much physics, at least in my program. These areas depend heavily on the program itself. I am a Ph.D student at Johns Hopkins, and Biophysics is its own department. However, at say ASU, biophysics is through the physics department. Our curriculums completely different.

This same statement applies to medical physics. I know someone who does medical physics at SUNY Buffalo through the physics department. If you went to Duke, though, it'll be a different story.

These interdisciplinary fields will vary from school to school.

But your statement is a bit odd, as any job or program will involve physics, as physics is the base of the pyramid. You'll end up applying your physics degree in anything you do, whether it be an engineering job, biophysics, medical physics, any sort of physics.