The Graduate Program in Medical Physics at The University of Chicago is recognized internationally for its research excellence and the caliber of its faculty, students, and graduates. The 21 members of the Medical Physics faculty hold appointments in the Department of Radiology (for those faculty with a primary interest in diagnostic imaging) or the Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology (for those faculty with a primary interest in the physics of radiation therapy). Our dedicated PhD program receives valuable support from the NIH, other governmental agencies, foundations, and private donors, which attests to the research excellence of our program, and is accredited by CAMPEP, which attests to the depth and breadth of the training received by students who wish to pursue clinical medical physics careers. Students benefit from the strong interaction among basic science and clinical faculty across both departments and across the larger medical center complex, with a growing emphasis on multidisciplinary science. Students are offered a broad range of topics for their thesis research project. Our program encourages students to publish their work in high-impact journals and to present their research at national and international scientific conferences. We provide doctoral students with the most up-to-date knowledge and research training with the goal of preparing them for leadership roles and productive scientific careers in academia, clinical physics, industry, and government.
Preparing students to conduct research: Our core curriculum focuses on multiple aspects of medical physics, including:
- mathematical methods for medical physics
- interactions of ionizing radiation with matter
- radiation therapy physics
- medical imaging physics
- nuclear medicine physics
- magnetic resonance imaging
- tomographic image reconstruction
- health physics
- anatomy and physiology