Australiasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine

As a medical physicist, you could work in one of many different health areas. Most typically, you would be involved with the commissioning, calibration, safe operation and maintenance of systems used for looking at or measuring what is happening in the body, for example those using x-rays, ultrasound, light in various frequencies; laser Doppler blood flow measurement; magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear medicine.

You might work with new therapies such as ultraviolet radiation or photostimulated cytoxin or carry out mathematical modelling of pressure, temperature, flow and perfusion, or design transducers and electronic systems. You might also supervise the dose of radiation need to treat a cancer patient and be involved in planning complex treatment for individual patients.

Here is a permalink to an story on ABC Catalyst about what a medical physicist does.

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/2266157.htm

Skills required

As you will probably be involved both in research and in working closely with patients, you will need to be able to communicate well with patients, technical and administrative staff and other healthcare professionals. You must also keep up with the latest scientific and medical research in your field and develop your laboratory and management skills.

How to become a Medical Physicist

A career in Medical Physics relies on the completion of an undergraduate degree with a major in Physics or Engineering. Following your undergraduate degree, you will need to obtain a training position at a clinical department in Australia or New Zealand. You can then apply for a place as a Registrar in the Training, Education and Accreditation Program (TEAP) in one of the following 3 specialty areas ; nuclear medicine, radiation oncology and radiology. TEAP is a five year clinical training program,undertaken at the same time as you complete a post graduate degree in Medical Physics.

Registrar training positions are advertised on our email list-server and also appear on our website under "Jobs". Read more....

For overseas candidates, you would need appropriate government approvals and qualification recognition. Normally TEAP positions go to people who are already resident in Australia and possess or have been accepted into an ACPSEM accredited Masters Medical Physics Degree (or equivalent).

Further information about TEAP is available on our website via the Professional Standards and Training sections. Read more