For example, medical physicists crunch the numbers for radiation-based cancer treatments to calculate precise dosages, maintain radiation equipment, and ensure that imaging machines such as CT scanners and MRIs are functioning properly.

The Oregon Medical Physics Program is a partnership between Oregon State and Oregon Health & Science University to educate medical physicists at the graduate level. Recently accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs Inc. (CAMPEP), we are the only accredited program in the Northwest.

We offer master’s and doctoral degrees in Medical Physics. The program consists of a minimum of 45 credits, 39 of which must be didactic. The following courses are required and the remaining credits can be compiled of any 500- or 600-level course taught in the department or from outside the department if approved by an advisor. A comprehensive oral exam must be passed to complete the degree. M.S. students, in addition to the exam, must present their work to a committee of graduate faculty. Admission is highly competitive; we accepted approximately 10% of applicants for the fall 2012 cohort.