How hard is it to become a medical physicist?

It is very difficult to become a medical physicist. The education required and time necessary to become a certified medical physicist calls for rigorous study and a willingness to invest a great deal of time over a number of years.

How To Become A Medical Physicist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical physicist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Ir. Wilhelmus Geerts

Medical physicists combine their knowledge of physics and medicine to aid the development and use of medical radiation technologies. They help healthcare workers safely diagnose and treat patients by ensuring that the equipment is operating efficiently. They also assist with the proper positioning of patients during radiotherapy to protect them from overexposure to radioactive materials. They can work in hospitals, research institutions, universities, and medical instrumentation manufacturing companies.

A medical physicist can choose to work in one of the three main components of work: diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, or radiotherapy. He/She or she can also work in consultation, research, and development, or teaching. They work closely with doctors, nurses, technicians, and patients in order to properly execute their duties. A successful medical physicist should have medical expertise, analytical skills, communication skills, and problem-solving skills.

Medical physicists work, on average, 40 hours a week. They work in shifts and depending on the institution they work in; they may be expected to be on call throughout, should their services be needed.

What general advice would you give to a medical physicist?

Dr. Ir. Wilhelmus Geerts

Professor, Texas State University

This is a question that would be better answered by our recent graduates. I noticed that some of them are able to secure better payment for their first job than I get from Texas State. I do tell them not to be not shy, and to try to ask questions at their interview and to put development opportunities above salary for a first job.

ScoreMedical PhysicistUS Average

Salary

8.2

Avg. Salary $122,845

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.5

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.69%

Asian 12.79%

Black or African American 1.87%

Hispanic or Latino 7.37%

Unknown 3.35%

White 73.92%

Gender

female 26.64%

male 73.36%

Age - 47.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47.5

Stress level

4.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical physicist

Explore medical physicist education requirements

Most common medical physicist degrees

Bachelor's

41.3 %

Master's

40.3 %

Doctorate

14.4 %

Start to develop specific medical physicist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	16.22%
Oncology	9.38%
Radiology	7.30%
Dosimetry	6.22%
Radiation Therapy	6.08%

Complete relevant medical physicist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical physicists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical physicist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical physicist resumes.

Research medical physicist duties and responsibilities

Manage patient charts in MOSAIQ record and verify system.
Involve in the quality control of radiation therapy, nuclear medicine and diagnostic radiology equipment.
Develop daily, monthly, and annual QA protocols for IGRT involving MRI according to AAPM
Implement policies, procedures, and QA for SBRT and VMAT.

Prepare your medical physicist resume

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