Therapeutic applications of Radiation Oncology Physics include radiation treatment of cancer with high energy x-ray and electron beams including IMRT, IGRT, intraoperative and stereotactic radiosurgery, implanted sealed radioactive sources and administered radioactive pharmaceuticals, as well as the treatment of cancer using high dose rate brachytherapy, heat, and the surgical use of lasers. Diagnostic applications include imaging with x-rays, radioactive tracers, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging, and the evaluation of bioelectrical and biomagnetic signals from the heart or brain.

Duties of medical physicist may include teaching, research and professional clinical support responsibilities, or a combination of these. Medical physics instruction is necessary for physicians in diagnostic radiology and radiation oncology, technologists in these areas, as well as for medical physicists in training. Research can range from fundamental principles to the development of equipment and methods for clinical application and the evaluation of these techniques. The largest area of work in medical physics is clinical professional activities. These include the calibration and testing of equipment, assisting in establishing clinical procedures, calculating patient radiation doses, and oversight of technical quality assurance programs.