Program Description

This Medical Physics course has a special focus on the physics that promote life: from the fluid mechanics that maintains the blood flowing in veins, to the forces acting on bones and tissues that support dynamic movement. Students will learn about the medical techniques and technologies developed by physicists and used in the NHS, such as radiotherapy, ultrasound scanning and MRI machines.

At the start of their course, students will cover the essential physics behind everything else they will study: heat, motion, electricity, magnetism and quantum mechanics. Students will also start to study the human body as a physical machine, and how electronics can be used to model biological systems. Students will learn through lectures and practical labs, so they won’t just be learning about abstract topics in isolation. Students will run experiments using the equipment in the faculty's modern laboratories to help them understand how important theories apply to the real world.

Students will explore essential physics in even more depth in second year. They will also continue to specialise in medical physics, with modules on the tissues of the human body, medical imaging and biomedical instrumentation. In programming classes, they can learn skills that are key to medical physics and valuable in many graduate careers, from data science to computer game design.

In the third year, students can branch out into lots of different areas and complete their own research projects in medical physics. In their core modules, students will learn how computational techniques are used to examine medical problems and simulate natural systems, as well as studying topics like particle physics and nuclear physics. Optional modules include quantum mechanics and dark matter.

Accredited by the Institute of Physics (IOP) for the purpose of fully meeting the educational requirement for Chartered Physicist.