The IIT Hyderabad’s department of biomedical engineering, physics is launching a three years Master of Science (MSc) programme in medical physics in collaboration with Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital and Research Institute (BIACH&RI). The programme is being launched to train future medical and radiation physicists, says the IIT.
The programme is AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) approved and aims to provide world-class medical physicist specialist training in the concepts and techniques of applying physics in medicine. It intends to provide clinical orientation for radiation physics, clinical immersion and shadowing, industry/ clinical lectures, short term projects, and clinical internship (in the third year) for 12 months. The internship is mandatory for certification.
This programme is ideal for BSc candidates with physics as one of the main subjects and who want to make a career in applied physics for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseases. Candidates from the above background can apply directly to IIT Hyderabad admissions. The applications will be screened based on the marks obtained in the qualifying degree. In addition, an interview will be conducted online.
The course requires the students to complete a total of 90 credits across three years, consisting of two years of course work (66 credits) and one-year (24 credits) mandatory internship.
Talking about the programme’s relevance with NEP 2020, Prof B S Murty, Director, IITH, said, “IITH has well-established Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Physics providing UG, PG & PhD programs wherein students are solving various challenges of the healthcare sector. MSc (Medical Physics) program of IITH, in collaboration with BIACH&RI, is the third PG program in the field of healthcare at IITH, which, in line with NEP, provides not only strong academic background to the students but also provides hands-on training in the form of year-long Clinical internship to the students to make them industry-ready”.