School of Medicine

Wayne State University School of Medicine

Welcome


Jay Burmeister, Ph.D., DABR
Director, Medical Physics Graduate Program
Wayne State University School of Medicine

The Wayne State University graduate programs in Medical and Radiological Physics are among the most established and prestigious in North America. Graduate training in medical physics at WSU dates back to the early 1970s, and the WSU M.S. and Ph.D. programs were among the first to become accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP).

Since then, over 250 WSU students have received either the degree of M.S. in Radiological Physics or a Ph.D. in Medical Physics. WSU graduates are currently practicing at hospitals and academic centers throughout the world. In fact, nearly one out of every 20 members of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a graduate of the WSU program.

The program is administered through the WSU School of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, and is based in the Detroit Medical Center / Karmanos Cancer Center. This provides students with both

the academic facilities of the largest single-campus medical school in the country, and the clinical facilities of one of the largest hospital systems in the country which boasts an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer care center. 

The WSU School of Medicine is also affiliated with the Henry Ford Health System, offering students additional access to clinical and academic resources. With an enrollment of 32,000 students, Wayne State University is among the nation's 30-largest public universities. WSU's graduate enrollment is also one of the country's largest, with more than 14,000 students enrolled in graduate and professional programs. 

Students in our graduate program are trained in a clinical environment and work with the same equipment used by the professional medical physics staff to treat patients in our affiliated radiology and radiation oncology departments. Students have ample access to library and computing facilities, world-class faculty, and state-of-the-art clinical and laboratory facilities. Our program is designed to produce graduates who are well prepared to enter clinical service and become board certified by the American Board of Radiology. Moreover, our graduates will become part of the next generation of health care professionals and researchers leading the advancement of the technological aspects of medical care.
 
Our medical physics residency program was also one of the first in North America and our graduate students and residents have been the recipients of numerous awards for excellence.  Our continued commitment to excellence in medical physics training, research and clinical development helps us remain as one of the nation’s premier medical physics groups.
 
Top five reasons to attend Wayne:
 
  • Tradition of Exceptional Medical Physics Training: Our graduate training program in medical physics dates back to the early 1970s, and we were one of the first two programs to become accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP). Our rich heritage includes two graduate program directors who served as President of the AAPM and earned the William Coolidge Award, the most prestigious award in medical physics. It also includes a number of faculty and/or graduates who have become fellows of the AAPM.
  • Access to State of the Art Clinical Facilities: Clinical facilities are provided within several large and prestigious hospital systems including an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Care Center. All clinical coursework is offered in the hospital setting and students have access to the same equipment used by staff physicists in clinical diagnostic radiology and radiation oncology departments. 
  • Distinguished Faculty: Our faculty brings a wide variety of clinical, research, and professional experience to the program that gives greater breadth and depth to the knowledge shared in the classroom and laboratory. Students get an opportunity to interact with a variety of outstanding faculty involved in all subspecialties of medical physics and in all aspects of the profession. 
  • Distinguished and Active Alumni: Nearly 1 out of every 20 members of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a graduate of the WSU program, and countless other medical physicists have been influenced indirectly by receiving training from a WSU graduate. Our large network of faculty and graduates serves as an excellent resource for consultation and is often helpful to students in making contacts that lead to clinical employment after graduation. 
    The WSU Medical Physics graduate program has a current enrollment of approximately 35 graduate students. Our students have a wide variety of educational backgrounds including physics, biomedical engineering, nuclear engineering, and computer science to name a few, but all have at least one thing in common – they are exceptional students. The academic credentials of our students are exceptional by any measure of academic statistics and more than one third of them already have at least one graduate degree prior to enrollment. Many of our students also bring substantial work experience including backgrounds as researchers, engineers, and medical professionals. The diverse educational and occupational backgrounds of our students help them learn from and challenge one another academically. Our world class students help make this a world class graduate program.