Medical Biophysics a good choice?

[Guest Hydeus]

I am considering medical biophysics for my major...is this a good choice? I haven't heard much about it from upper years and im just wondering if anyone here can lend me a hand.

 

Thanks!

[redfox]

if that's what you're interested in then it is a good choice.... but no program will give you an advantage during the admissions process... so if the program marks harder than other programs you might want to re-think it.

[RestlessMedicalPhysicist]

My undergrad was in a similar background at McGill (Joint Major Physiology and Physics) and my M.Sc. is in medical physics. The pros are that you will have lots of interesting research opportunities and a physical sciences background that offers a second perspective on questions biological. The biggest cons are that what often happens is you end up with a good biological background but a haphazard physical sciences background if you actually go into the physical sciences. Also, biology and physics require two very different learning approaches so it is often very difficult for people to excel in coursework doing both (maybe this is less true at Western, I guess it depends on how integrated the curriculum is to "biophysics"). That being said, I'm quite happy with the foundation of skills I've acquired, and would do it again in a heartbeat. Another side benefit is that it's a great background for writing the MCAT, or so I found.

[JYu]

My undergrad was in a similar background at McGill (Joint Major Physiology and Physics) and my M.Sc. is in medical physics. The pros are that you will have lots of interesting research opportunities and a physical sciences background that offers a second perspective on questions biological. The biggest cons are that what often happens is you end up with a good biological background but a haphazard physical sciences background if you actually go into the physical sciences. Also, biology and physics require two very different learning approaches so it is often very difficult for people to excel in coursework doing both (maybe this is less true at Western, I guess it depends on how integrated the curriculum is to "biophysics"). That being said, I'm quite happy with the foundation of skills I've acquired, and would do it again in a heartbeat. Another side benefit is that it's a great background for writing the MCAT, or so I found.

 

Having an undergraduate background in Medical Physics at UWO, I just want to clarify a bit about Western's program. Although other schools aren't like this, at Western there is actually a distinction between Medical Physics and Medical Biophysics. The former is a program under the Department of Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science; you get a B.Sc. The latter is its own department, under the Faculty of Medical Science; you get a B.MSc.

 

There is a lot of overlap between the two departments (especially at the graduate and professional levels), but the undergrad training is quite distinct from each other.

 

Medical Physics focuses more on the physics and math side of things. "Applying the principles of physics and mathematics to study, diagnose, and treat disease." Some examples: medical imaging (MRI, ultrasound, imaging and Doppler ultrasound, PET/SPECT), multi-modality imaging (e.g. PET/CT, PET/MRI), radiation oncology physics. One needs to take: "core" physics and applied math courses (e.g. quantum mechanics, electrodynamics, partial differential equations, advanced physics laboratory), specific medical physics courses (e.g. NMR/MRI, radiological physics), and a few courses in Medical Science. Essentially it is a physics degree.

 

Medical Biophysics focuses more on the biological side of things. "Study of biology using concepts of physics." Some examples: biomaterials, circulation/hemodynamics, biomedical engineering (overlapping with the engineering faculty), biomechanics, medical imaging (more "biological" applications e.g. functional MRI), radiobiology. I don't know the specifics of the Medical Biophysics undergraduate program, but I think there are two ways of going about it: a biological stream or a physics stream (which I guess is just the same as a Medical Physics degree). But I would say the general emphasis is still more biological than physics/math.

 

Overall, there is probably enough flexibility built into either program that you can design your degree to be one way or another. But I would say most people just do Medical Physics for the physics side of things and Medical Biophysics for the biological.

 

I am considering medical biophysics for my major...is this a good choice? I haven't heard much about it from upper years and im just wondering if anyone here can lend me a hand.

 

"Good choice" for medical school? It doesn't matter. If you are interested in what the department does, then by all means go for it because you'll be able to enjoy it and learn better. If you hate this kind of stuff, then don't do it. For what it's worth, in my class there are several UWO Medical Biophysics majors, a handful of engineers, and two physics majors...