BSc in Medical Physics at the University of Campinas

Abstract

Several Medical Physics university programs have started in Brazil in the last decade. They are mainly taken at the undergraduate level. At UNICAMP, we combined the teaching expertise of several units, including the Physics Institute, the Institute of Biology, the School of Medical Sciences and the Center for Biomedical Engineering, to create a course that starts with Core Physics, Mathematics, Computing and Chemistry, then follows with specific courses in Medical Physics intertwined with advanced courses belonging to a strong BSc in Physics, and concludes with a one-year traineeship at the University Hospital. The UNICAMP Medical Physics undergraduate course began in 2003, lasts five years and has formed 67 students up to 2010, most of them have got stable working positions as Medical Physicists. This article presents the conception, structure and the first outcomes of this course.