JOIN USA new three-year postgraduation course in Medical Physics will commence in Mangalore University from the academic year 2018-19.
This course is the first-of-its-kind in any state university in Karnataka. Medical Physics is approved and recognised by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), Government of India. It is also referred as health physics, according to Dr H M Somashekarappa, coordinator, Medical Physics.
“This discipline is responsible for the technical foundations of radiology, radiation oncology, and nuclear medicine and built on foundation of physics, but with distinct body of knowledge and scholarship. Medical Physics has theory and experiment, but is inherently an applied discipline. Medical Physics is nothing but application of physics to the needs of medicine,” he said.
Multiple concerns
“Medical physicists are concerned with clinical service and consultation, and academics and research. The areas are equally important in treating patients and developing new methods and techniques to deliver the benefits of radiation physics to the public. Medical physicists have the responsibility of ensuring radiation protection in all medical applications,” said Dr Somashekarappa.
The course is interdisciplinary and the syllabus include subjects such as foundations of nuclear and radiation physics, radiation detection measurements, radiological mathematics, electronics and biomedical instrumentation, radiation dosimetry and standardisation, fundamentals of cancer biology, clinical radiation biology, physics of medical imaging, physics of nuclear medicine, physics of radiotherapy, clinical aspects of radiation therapy, modern trends in radiotherapy, radiation protection standards and safety.
The University has signed MoU with medical colleges and hospitals for conducting practical classes related to radiation therapy and planning, radiation dose estimation and optimisation, image analysis, calibration, brachytherapy treatment planning, radiation response of thermoluminescent dosimeters etc and hands-on-training to the students during one year internship after the completion of two years’ MSc course.
Options after PG
After completing the course, one can become Medical Physicists in Radiation Oncology. They can also become faculty members in departments of Medical Physics, Radiology, Radiation Oncology, Radiation Biology, Nuclear Medicine and Nuclear Engineering. If the postgraduates complete an examination conducted by the AERB, they can be employed as radiological safety officers in government and private sector.
Scientists from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre will also teach students in addition to adjunct professors. Candidates who have completed BSc with physics as one of the optional or major are eligible to apply provided they have studied Mathematics as major / optional / special / minor / subsidiary subject for at least two years and secured a minimum of 65% in Physics.
The total intake is 14.