A First Course in Medical Physics

An experiment was conducted to test our initial hypothesis that Medical Physics should prove to be a very rewarding career option for physics majors. A graduate program in Medical Physics followed by residency training is a relatively new area of physics. In a nutshell, Medical Physics is the application of physics in a medical setting. The hypothesis was tested by developing a First Course in Medical Physics. The prerequisite for the first course in Medical Physics is a one-semester course in Modern Physics. We provide the outline of this course followed by a comprehensive inventory of questions that were administered on an experimental basis to the students. The answers are provided solely for the use of instructors who may wish to develop a similar course in Medical Physics for their undergraduate students. We are pleased to report that the hypothesis was validated. Our students have had phenomenal success in pursuing the Medical Physics program followed by residency. The purpose of this paper is to disseminate this among the wider physics community. We were so emboldened by the success of our students that we are planning to make this one-semester First Course in Medical Physics available to all our students in order to better prepare and invigorate future cohorts of our students.