PhD - CAMPEP Stream
The Department of Medical Biophysics at Western University provides CAMPEP accredited graduate programs for students interested in a Clinical Medical Physics career. A CAMPEP accredited graduate program is a pre-requisite for a CAMPEP accredited Medical Physics Residency program. A CAMPEP accredited residency is, itself, a pre-requisite for the Canadian and American certification exams. Learn more about Clinical Medical Physics through COMP, or AAPM.
The CAMPEP accredited program in Medical Biophysics at Western has two streams:
- a one-year, course-based CAMPEP MSc
- for students with a previous graduate degree without CAMPEP certification. - a course- and thesis-based PhD (this page describes this program)
- for students who wish to combine their graduate degree with CAMPEP certification
Description
In the CAMPEP PhD Program, students will complete all of the requirements for a thesis-based PhD as well as all of the CAMPEP courses. As with all PhD students, CAMPEP PhD students may also take a limited number of additional graduate level courses selected specifically to complement their background, research project, and future career goals.
The addition of the CAMPEP certification does not affect the usual number of terms that the student is expected to take to complete their PhD program.
Application Process
Students enter the PhD – CAMPEP stream after they have successfully been accepted into the Medical Biophysics PhD program.
To be eligible for admission to the CAMPEP Accredited PhD Graduate Program, students must:
- be registered in the Medical Biophysics PhD program.
- be within the first 3 terms of the PhD program
- have a strong foundation in basic physics. This shall be demonstrated either by
- an undergraduate or graduate degree in physics, or
- by a degree in an engineering discipline or another of the physical sciences and with coursework that is the equivalent of a minor in physics (i.e., one that includes at least three upper-level undergraduate physics courses that would be required for a physics major; for example: Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetic Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Physics Laboratory)
- have their supervisor's approval.
Students without the required undergraduate background may apply to the CAMPEP Graduate Program Director for advice about a program of study that may allow them to be successfully admitted to the CAMPEP stream.
If you have any further questions about the PhD CAMPEP stream program, please email: askMBP@schulich.uwo.ca
The CAMPEP Courses
The CAMPEP required courses are presented by university- and hospital-based faculty in small group classes. The curriculum adheres to CAMPEP standards and provides the technical knowledge needed to move into a Clinical Medical Physics residency.
All of our graduate students, no matter what stream they are part of, are required to participate in a weekly seminar series, where all students must present their work once a year. Our students are also required to take at least one communications course in their program, indicating the importance we put on intra-professional development.
Most of our instructors have extensive clinical experience and bring their expertise and experience into the classroom. Through labs and clinically-centred projects, we introduce students to the rewarding and exciting world of clinical medical physics. While our focus is on Radiation Therapy Physics, we pull our medical imaging instructors from the world class Robarts Research Institute.
Completion
Students who complete the medical physics course curriculum will receive a CAMPEP notation on their transcript and letter of attestation from the CAMPEP Program Director, certifying that they have completed the CAMPEP-accredited medical physics curriculum.
Summary of Our Graduates from the PhD – CAMPEP Program at Western
Academic Year |
2011(Inaugural Year) |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022-2023*January to June |
2023-2024*July to Oct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Applicants | 10 6 were current students 4 were new applicants |
4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 5 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| Number of Applicants Offered Admission |
10 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| Number of Applicants who Matriculated (accepted offer to begin studies) |
10 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| Cumulative Number of Students in Program |
10 | 12 | 16 | 21 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 39 | 44 | 46 | 49 | 56 | 60 |
| Number of Students Graduated |
0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Cumulative Graduates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 19 | 24 | 28 | 30 | 36 | 44 |
| Number of Graduates in Residencies |
0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| Number of Graduates in Industry |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Number of Graduates in Clinical Positions |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Number of Graduates in Academic Positions |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Number of Graduates in Other Activities |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CAMPEP (Commission on the Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs) and SDAMPP (Society of Directors of Academic Medical Physics Programs) require all medical physics education programs to post and maintain these data, regarding student statistics.
We have maintained our CAMPEP certification since 2011.
*note that CAMPEP changed its reporting period to align with the academic year, therefore these intervals are longer than 12 months
