I am currently a first year life sciences student and this March I need to pick a field to major in.
I, like many others, have the goal to attend medical school, so I want to pick a major that will help me reach that goal.

Ive been looking into the major Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences.

I enjoy physics and the math side of science so i figured this may be the program for me.
The only problem is this major has quite a few prerequisites that I don't have. So i would need to used the summer and my second year to catch up for this major, so i need to be sure I know what I'm getting myself into.

If anyone has took this major, or has taken some of the med phys classes before, could you tell me a little about them? What's the content majorly based on? Where can it get you in the future as a plan B? Is it even a good route for med school? Do you enjoy it?

Really anything anyone has to say about anything relatively related med phys would help me so much.

Thanks guys!

I'm also interested in anything anyone has to say about med phys

Word of advice; med school admissions are ridiculously competitive. Expect to never get in. Therefore, do what interests you, not what will get you there.

Alot of med phys students are in upper year physics courses. That is as much as I know. Other than that I recommend going doing the summer school anyways because physics majors are awesome.

britb pretty much said it.
+ most Canadian med schools dont require that students are enrolled in specific programs + undergrad degrees based on my understanding aren't designed to prepare u for med school (they prepare u for mcat and stuff like that) but med school is a completely different path...so do what interests u, and be a good well-rounded student...ur interests will take u to a place which is good for u

Originally Posted by Ajay R

I am currently a first year life sciences student and this March I need to pick a field to major in.
I, like many others, have the goal to attend medical school, so I want to pick a major that will help me reach that goal.

Ive been looking into the major Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences.

I enjoy physics and the math side of science so i figured this may be the program for me.
The only problem is this major has quite a few prerequisites that I don't have. So i would need to used the summer and my second year to catch up for this major, so i need to be sure I know what I'm getting myself into.

If anyone has took this major, or has taken some of the med phys classes before, could you tell me a little about them? What's the content majorly based on? Where can it get you in the future as a plan B? Is it even a good route for med school? Do you enjoy it?

Really anything anyone has to say about anything relatively related med phys would help me so much.

Thanks guys!

as for what you can get into for the future.. there is a mentor on mentorlinks who works as a radiation therapist at the juravinski cancer centre

try contacting that person if you are really interested in learning about what a future in radiation science may hold.. i wont give you the persons contact info here.. but u may get it from here: http://careers.mcmaster.ca/tools/men...t_n umber=506

Hi! I'm the recruitment rep for the medical physics undergraduate program and here are some answers to your questions. I did my undergrad in medical physics here at Mac and I am now doing a PhD in medical physics.

Here's a link to the program:
http://www.science.mcmaster. ca/med...urriculum.html

The program contains core math and physics courses but you also take anatomy and biology courses so if you are good at math and physics but are also interested in health science, this would be a good option for you. In the later part of the program, you take medical physics specific courses where you learn about medical imaging (CT, PET, MRI), radiation biology, cancer therapy, radioisotopes etc.

Students do successfully go onto medical school after this program. If you are interested in radiology or radiation oncology as a medical specialization, medical physics would provide you with an excellent background. A large number of students generally go onto graduate school to do research. Many students with graduate degrees in medical physics will then become clinical medical physicists at a cancer center where they design treatment plans for patients undergoing radiation therapy and test new treatment systems.

It is also possible to obtain employment in the nuclear industry as a health physicist with this degree. You would work to protect employees working at a nuclear power station from radiation exposure.

This undergrad program comes with a coop option so that you can try out these potential career paths over an 8 month placement and make money! Its a great way to gain experience for whatever you choose to do next.

Hope that helps! Good luck!