Consider a Career in Medical Physics

Clinical Medical and Health Physics is an exciting and expanding field of physics which applies our fundamental knowledge of physics to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a variety of human conditions. In conjunction with CancerCare Manitoba, the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manitoba offers training in Medical and Health Physics that leads to MSc and Ph.D. degrees. A comprehensive (course based) MSc as well as research (thesis) based MSc and Ph.D. degrees are offered through this program.

CancerCare Manitoba is committed to becoming a centre of choice for patients, staff and students and through the CAMPEP accredited comprehensive MSc program, students are able to get a solid grounding in all aspects of Radiological and Health Physics, prior to having to make a decision to enter a specialized clinical residency or Ph.D. research program. This is a challenging 36 credit hour program that will prepare the capable student for a clinical residency. For those students who wish to spend more time on research and/or who are committed to enter a Ph.D. program the research based MSc provides a good entry point and for excellent students a conversion from the research based MSc to a CAMPEP accredited Ph.D. is possible.

At the start of their studies, comprehensive MSc students and students entering or converting to a Ph.D. program are provided with a checklist detailing the items that must be completed in order to meet the elements required as part of a CAMPEP (Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs, Inc.) accredited program. The appropriate instructor must sign off each completed element on this form. Once all requirements have been met, the form will be reviewed by the Chair of the Examination Subcommittee for completeness and signed off by the Program Director. A certificate of completion will be provided to qualifying students together with their degree certificate only if all of the CAMPEP requirements have been met. Note: The research (thesis) based MSc is designed for students entering the field and does not meet the requirements for CAMPEP accreditation.

The Division of Medical Physics at CancerCare Manitoba has 18 physicists and close to 60 staff and students and is structured around five distinct yet interdependent service departments: Radiation Protection, Imaging Physics, Radiotherapy Physics, Medical Devices, and Nuclear Electronics.

Each of the service departments has a core of expertise which is available for the student to tap into whether it be to facilitate the manufacture of some piece of unique equipment required for their research or to answer some esoteric question on the nature of radiation transport. Medical Physicists have appointments in both the Department of Physics and Astronomy as well as the Department of Radiology and most have academic/teaching, research and clinical responsibilities. They also teach Radiation Oncology and Radiology Residents training program as well radiation therapy students in CancerCare Manitoba's, School of Radiation Therapy.

Graduate Student applications are handled by the University of Manitoba and interested students are directed to the Department of Physics and Astronomy web site for further information.

Students will spend much of their time at CancerCare Manitoba which is located on the Bannatyne (Medical) campus but will be required to travel to the Fort Garry Campus for some classes, seminars or to TA. A shuttle bus between the two campuses is available during the academic term. More information on the specific degrees, facilities, funding and Divisional research interests can be found by clicking on an area of interest on the navigation bar to the left.