Program Information
Medical Physics will not be accepting applicants for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Graduate Studies in Medical Physics
The University of New Mexico’s School of Engineering (Department of Nuclear Engineering) School of Medicine (Department of Radiology), and the Comprehensive Cancer Center have collaborated to create a Medical Physics concentration in Nuclear Engineering. The graduate program is administered through the School of Engineering, Department of Nuclear Engineering, with support provided by the Department of Radiology and the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center. The University of New Mexico Master of Science Program in Medical Physics received accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Program (CAMPEP) in December of 2009. Since 2009, 15 students have graduated from the accredited program and have found positions in the clinic, academia, industry, and government.
Curriculum
There are 36 hours required for the Masters in Nuclear Engineering with a concentration in Medical Physics. Currently, electives are not available in the curriculum, but students are highly encouraged to broaden their experience and knowledge by taking additional courses in data science, imaging science, and machine learning. The M.S. degree is a non-thesis, Plan II degree, which requires the successful completion of a master’s exam. For graduates of the Medical Physics program, the transcript will clearly indicate “medical physics” as the Major Concentration.
Master's Examination
The Graduate School requires a Master's Comprehensive Examination that can be either written or oral, or both. However, an oral comprehensive exam is required for this program in the area of medical radiation physics. It will cover material from the core classes and experience acquired through the laboratories and practicum.
In addition to the final examination, the student must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better and meet the residence requirement of the Graduate School (two full-time semesters). Students have 7 years to complete all program requirements and only courses taken within the most recent 7 years will count towards degree requirements. However, most students complete the program within 2-3 years.
Grades
For the University and the Medical Physics graduate program, students must earn a 3.0 GPA or better in all courses taken for graduate credit. A student is placed on probation after 2 NC/Fail's and will be removed from the program if a third NC or Fail is received.
Financial Support
For the MS program there is no formal financial aid. Some teaching and research assistantships may be available and are awarded on a semester basis to graduate students. These appointments are usually part-time (25-50%) and out-of-state students awarded assistantships are eligible for resident tuition rate provided they are employed at least 25% time for at least half of the semester. Assistantship information can be found at https://grad.unm.edu/funding/assistantships.html.
The University of New Mexico Medical Physics Graduate Program Disclosure Statement
CAMPEP Graduate Standard 2.13 states “An accredited program must publicly describe the program and the achievements of its graduates and students, preferably through a publicly accessible website. This information must be updated no less often than annually and must include, for each program (MS, PhD or Certificate), the numbers of applicants to the program, of students offered admission, of students matriculated, and of graduates. Where possible, information on the subsequent positions of graduates must also be provided, i.e., residencies, industrial positions, etc. This information should not identify individuals.”
The following table provides the required information:
