Course Descriptions

• Biological and Biophysical Principles of Molecular Imaging
  Course Detail

  GS02 1083 (3 credits)
  Spring

  This course will provide an introduction to pre-clinical and clinical molecular imaging modalities as well as the biochemical principles that govern contrast agent design and function.  Topics include optical imaging, bioluminescence imaging, PET, SPECT, CT, MRI, MRS, photoacoustic imaging, and radiomics.  The goal of the course is to provide students with the concepts and techniques necessary to integrate pre-clinical imaging, cell biology, and biochemistry into their own research and the intellectual foundation for a career in molecular imaging research. Audit for this course is permitted with the Course Director's consent.

• Diagnostic Medical Physics II
  Course Detail

  GS02 1223 (3 credits)
  Summer Session

  This course provides graduate students with a foundation in the fundamental physics, principles of image formation & reconstruction, instrumentation, safety, and quality assurance of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging.

• Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy
  Course Detail

  GS00 1920 (Variable (1-9) credits)
  All Semesters

  This course is for students who have passed the Ph.D. oral candidacy examination. Enrollment for a minimum of one semester required for Ph.D. degree.

• Electronics for Medical Physicists
  Course Detail

  GS02 1202 (2 credits)
  Fall

  This course emphasizes the analog and digital electronics associated with scientific instrumentation, particularly as related to medical physics. Topics include analog DC and AC circuits and circuit analysis, transformers, and basic semiconductor devices such as diodes, transistors, and operational amplifiers; electrical safety; the use of filters and voltage regulators; digital logic, digital circuits, and the interface between analog and digital domains; and an overview of the electrical characteristics of systems that are used in the practice of medical physics.

• Fundamental Anatomy, Physiology, and Biology for Medical Physics I
  Course Detail

  GS02 1063 (3 credits)
  Fall

  This is Part I of a two-part course that covers the fundamental biological principles that are essential for medical physicists, presenting them in an integrated progression from the molecular level to the organismal level. This course may also be of interest for graduate students of biophysics, radiation biology, and biomedical engineering. Beginning with a review of basic biochemistry, the course proceeds through molecular biology then cellular biology and physiology. Applications of these principles to radiation biology are covered, then the course moves to cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, tumor growth and development, and radiation carcinogenesis. The course concludes with the language of anatomy then tissues and their response to radiation.

• Fundamental Anatomy, Physiology, and Biology for Medical Physics II
  Course Detail

  GS02 1073 (3 credits)
  Spring

  This is Part II of a two-part course that covers the fundamental biological principles that are essential for medical physicists, presenting them in an integrated progression from the molecular level to the organismal level. This course may also be of interest for graduate students of biophysics, radiation biology, and biomedical engineering.  Part II builds on the concepts from Part I of the course, and focuses on systems biology, including anatomy, physiology, and oncology, with special focus on the use of radiotherapy to treat cancer.  This course has a unique focus on radiologic anatomy, and students will learn to identify normal anatomic structures in medical images acquired using radiography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. Molecular and functional imaging and cancer biology are also introduced in this course.

• Imaging Science
  Course Detail

  GS02 1052 (2 credits)
  Fall

  This course provides a concise and coherent review of some commonly-encountered topics in applied mathematics, with a particular emphasis on their applications and relevance to medical imaging.  The course covers and is equally divided into two major sections: 1. optimization methods and algorithms, 2. Fourier and wavelet transforms.

• Introduction to Medical Physics I: Basic Interactions
  Course Detail

  GS02 1093 (3 credits)
  Fall

  This semester covers the basic interactions of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation important in medicine.  Topics include production of radiation; photon, charged-particle, and neutron interactions; cavity theory; radiation interactions with solids; and ultrasound interactions. 

• Introduction to Medical Physics IV: The Physics of Nuclear Medicine
  Course Detail

  GS02 1193 (3 credits)
  Fall

  This course introduces graduate students to the basic science and instrumentation of nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging.  It presents scientific principles underlying quantitative radionuclide organ imaging methods for dosimetry and treatment planning.

• Introduction to Radiation Protection
  Course Detail

  GS02 1133 (3 credits)
  Summer Session

  The science of radiation protection including terminology, biological effects, shielding dose limits, and dose measurement will be studied.  The role of state and federal enforcement agencies will be discussed.  The application of radiation protective concepts in a medical environment will include room design, isotope handling, instrumentation calibration, and room surveys.

• Medical Physics Seminar
  Course Detail

  GS02 1731 (1 credits)
  Spring and Fall

  In the Fall term (Course Director, Laurence Court, PhD), students present talks on selected topics in general medical physics, therapy, and medical imaging.  The objectives are to acquaint students with a wide range of medical physics topics and to develop public speaking skills. 

  In the Spring term (Course Directors, Mary Martel, PhD and Pollard-Larkin, PhD),  students will learn the fundamentals of Medical Physics leadership, professionalism and ethics.  The objectives are to familiarize the students with several professional and ethical concerns within the field, develop an understanding of how to create a robust Radiation Oncology safety culture and quality assurance program and provide them with lectures from subject area experts on each topic.

• Principles of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  Course Detail

  GS02 1032 (2 credits)
  Summer Session

  The goal of this course is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the physics involved in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and prepare the students to carry out research or practice medical physics in this area.  The topics include basic spin physics, contrast mechanisms, hardware, data acquisition, image reconstruction, and artifact recognition.  Emphasis will be placed on practical issues encountered in research and clinical applications.

• Radiation Detection, Instrumentation, and Data Analysis
  Course Detail

  GS02 1053 (3 credits)
  Spring

  This course encompasses a study of the characteristics and applications of charged particle, photon, and neutron detectors.  Modular analog and digital electronics required for signal processing and data recording will be used.  Techniques of data analysis and error propagation of counting statistics will be introduced.  The course will include two lectures and one laboratory exercise weekly.  The applications of radiation detectors in radiotherapy, health physics, nuclear medicine, and radiobiology will be emphasized.

• Radiation-Induced Late Effects and Survivorship Journal Club
  Course Detail

  GS02 1011 (1 credits)
  Spring

  Students will meet weekly to present and discuss a contemporary publication on the subject of late effects, cancer survivorship, and dosimetry following medical radiation exposures. Publications may include scientific articles, books, reports, review papers, etc. The late effects of interest to the participants of this course are radiation-induced second cancers, infertility, organ dysfunction, cardiovascular effects, lung damage, pregnancy and neonatal outcomes, cognitive deficit, auditory impairment, dental abnormalities, diabetes, other chronic disease, and other long-term radiogenic effects and public health concerns. Medical radiation exposures include those related to radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging. Radiation dosimetry, late effects, and survivorship publications will be based on radiological measurements, analytic calculations, Monte Carlo calculations, predictive risk models, epidemiological data, and any related studies. The presentation outline comprises 25 minutes of prepared slides and 25 minutes of discussion. Each student will be required to present at least once during the semester and will be expected to actively participate in the discussion period. A minimum of 80% attendance is required for a passing grade. Students and faculty will not present their own work. This course is intended for Medical Physics students but is open to students from other programs with instructor consent.

• Special Project: Research
  Course Detail

  GS00 1530 (Variable (1-4) credits)
  All Semesters

  Short-term research project intended to expose students to a research area or set of laboratory techniques. 

• Statistics for Medical Physicists
  Course Detail

  GS02 1072 (2 credits)
  Summer Session

  This course is a one-semester overview of statistical concepts in biomedical and imaging studies. The material is intended to provide an introduction to applied methods of biostatistics that are prevalent in an engineering curriculum but are now increasingly encountered in medical physics literature and various areas of medical physics research, including non-model-based solutions to one sample and two sample problems. Students will gain experience in general understanding of the underlying statistical principles, the general approach to data analysis and interpretation of appropriate statistical methods

• Supervised Clinical Experience in Radiation Therapy Physics
  Course Detail

  GS02 1021 (1 credits)
  Summer Session

  The Supervised Clinical Experience in Radiation Therapy Physics course is an elective course intended for students to be exposed to the practical working environment of a radiation oncology clinic. The time commitment for this elective is 4 hours a week with no didactic portion. Students will have 2 options: (1) a general supervised clinical experience whereby the student will rotate one morning every week with each site-specific physicist from the Department of Radiation Physics at MD Anderson Cancer Center, or (2) a student/mentor-led experience that focuses on one specific treatment procedure. Students pursuing the second option will submit a proposal to be approved by the course director before the start of the course (to ensure that it is consistent in effort and scope to the general experience) and a report of their experiences at the end of the course.

• Therapy Medical Physics II
  Course Detail

  GS02 1213 (3 credits)
  Summer Session

  This course will cover concepts and applications in “modern” radiation therapy physics. It will start with an introduction to model based planning with CT and followed with rigorous treatment of convolution based-algorithms, Monte Carlo, and deterministic algorithms. This will include further discussion of heterogeneity corrections and limitations in commercially implemented algorithms utilized in treatment planning systems. This will be followed by discussion on modern radiation therapy planning and delivery approaches including IMRT, VMAT, stereotactic, and image-guided RT principles. Proton radiation therapy will be covered in detail. The final section of the class will cover advanced RT topics including MR in RT, patient specific QA, artificial intelligence/automation applications, biological based treatment planning, and FLASH. Auditing this course is permitted with instructor's consent. 

• Thesis for Master of Science
  Course Detail

  GS00 1910 (Variable (1-9) credits)
  All Semesters

  To fulfill the requirements for the M.S. degree, students who have successfully petitioned for M.S. candidacy must register for a minimum of 6 credit hours in this course. These credit hours must be completed in one or more semesters after the M.S. candidacy petition has been approved.