Certificate Program

Update for Spring 2024 Semester

All spring courses are currently offered in person.

Program Overview

The Harvard Medical Physics Residency Program includes a CAMPEP-accredited Certificate Program, which enables individuals with a non-CAMPEP medical physics Ph.D. to complete all didactic requirements within the residency program. Courses have been offered to residents in our program since its inception in 2009, and these courses have since been formally recognized as a Medical Physics Certificate Program. The Certificate Program was granted initial accreditation in 2016 and was re-accredited in 2020.

CAMPEP requires 18 credit hours of core medical physics didactic material, which we divide into 6 courses:

  • Physics I: Radiologic physics and dosimetry [3 credits, offered annually in the Fall]
  • Physics II: Radiation therapy physics [3 credits, offered annually in the Spring]
  • Medical Imaging Modalities [3 credits, offered every other Fall (next offering Fall 2025)]
  • Radiation Protection and Safety [3 credits, offered annually in the Spring]
  • Radiation Biology [2 credits, offered annually in the Spring]
  • Anatomy and Physiology for Non-physicians [3 credits, offered every other Spring (next offering Spring 2024)]
  • Students may also take an optional Medical Physics Seminars course [1 credit, offered every semester]

Further information on the CAMPEP course requirements and Certificate Programs can be found on the CAMPEP website

Fall courses typically start the first week of September and spring courses typically begin in late January or early February.  Some courses are not offered annually so earning a complete Certificate in some cases may require longer than one year.

Graduates of our Certificate Program have entered residencies at NYU, Rutgers, UCSF, Brown, Columbia, and Harvard.

Prerequisites

Applicants must have a doctoral degree in physics, physical science, or engineering with either an undergraduate degree in physics or at least three upper-division (3rd or 4th year undergraduate) physics courses. Two calculus‐based undergraduate physics courses are also required.

The Certificate Program is open to our residents, postdoctoral fellows within the MGH, BWH, or BIDMC systems with the permission of the Program Director, and applicants from outside our institutions.  Outside applicants must follow the formal application process and are responsible for the tuition payments as outlined below.

Email inquiries from candidates who do not meet the  CAMPEP course requirements may not receive a response.

How to Apply

Download Certificate Program Application

Completed applications should be submitted electronically to hmsmedphys@partners.org.  There is a $50 application fee.

Applications may be accepted after the deadline (see below) on a rolling basis if space permits.  Program enrollment may be capped.

Accepted students are required to indicate their acceptance in writing prior to the beginning of classes per the timeline below, at which time a non-refundable $500 deposit will be due.

Students may elect to take any or all of the courses listed for credit. However, only students successfully completing all 18 credits will receive a formal certificate.

Tuition

Tuition for the full 18 credit certificate entire program is $28,000*, or $1556 per credit hour.  Financial aid is not available.  The due dates for each semester’s tuition payment are shown below.

*Above tuition costs are not inclusive of required course materials.

Timeline

  Fall Semester Spring Semester
Application deadline July 15 Dec 1
Acceptance confirmed and tuition deposit due Aug 15 Jan 1
Full tuition due Sep 15 Feb 1

Research Projects

Students admitted to the Certificate Program from outside our institutions may also have an opportunity to participate in research projects with our faculty.  Funding is not guaranteed.

Faculty for Certificate Courses

Physics I
Course Co-directors: Yulia Lyatskaya, PhD, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, BWH; Dianne Ferguson, PhD, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, BWH
Various physics faculty from BIDMC, BWH and MGH

Physics II
Course Co-directors: Yulia Lyatskaya, PhD, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, BWH; Martina Hurwitz, PhD, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, BIDMC
Various physics faculty from BIDMC, BWH and MGH

Medical Imaging Modalities
Course Co-directors: Greg Sharp, PhD, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, MGH; Atchar Sudhyadhom, PhD, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, BWH
Various physics faculty from BIDMC, BU, BWH, Children’s, and MGH

Radiobiology
Kathryn D. Held PhD, Department of Radiation Oncology, MGH

Anatomy and Physiology for non-physicians
Nima Aghdam, MD, Department of Radiation Oncology, BIDMC

Radiation Protection and Safety
Course Co-directors: David Gierga, PhD, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, MGH; Zhaohui Han, PhD, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, BWH
Physics faculty and RSO from BIDMC, BWH, MGH

Medical Physics Seminars
Course director: Christian Guthier, PhD, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, BWH

Please see our Certificate Program Handbook for further information.

Certificate Program Statistics

YearApplicantsOffered AdmissionMatriculatedGraduatedGraduates entering residencyGraduates entering an Academic PositionResidents graduating with a Certificate
2016333N/AN/AN/AN/A
20175553012
201812993102
201954310622
20206665221
20219882110
202296510541
Total4941393315108

Note: In the above table, the number of applicants, the number offered admission, and the number matriculated include residents taking the courses during their residency, internal postdoctoral fellows, and students from outside our institution.  Prior to 2018, the Certificate Program was only open to internal residents and postdoctoral fellows.  Students from outside our institution were accepted beginning in 2018.