Health/Medical Physics

Types of Degrees Health/Medical Physics Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many health/medical physics graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	163
Bachelor’s Degree	32
Doctor’s Degree	28
Graduate Certificate	20
Basic Certificate	1

What Health/Medical Physics Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to health/medical physics were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Health/Medical Physics Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in health/medical physics should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.

Skills for Health/Medical Physics Majors

A major in health/medical physics prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Abilities for Health/Medical Physics Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a health/medical physics student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Health/Medical Physics Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with health/medical physics:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370
Physicists	14.5%	$120,950

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Health/Medical Physics?

This major is dominated by women with about 59% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of health/medical physics majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	7
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	6
White	15
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Health/Medical Physics, too. About 6.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Health/Medical Physics

Some careers associated with health/medical physics require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for health/medical physics careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	0.8%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.5%
Some College Courses	0.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	4.0%
Bachelor’s Degree	15.0%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.7%
Master’s Degree	29.3%
Doctoral Degree	24.0%
Post-Doctoral Training	24.0%

Online Health/Medical Physics Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	8	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	32	0
Post-Master’s	7	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	11	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Health/Medical Physics

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to health/medical physics.

Major	Number of Grads
General Public Health	25,558
Public Health Education and Promotion	4,112
Other Public Health	3,157
Health Services Administration	3,047
Community Health and Preventive Medicine	2,042
International Public Health/International Health	1,696
Environmental Health	1,439
Behavioral Aspects of Health	633
Maternal and Child Health	275
Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene	261
Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality	87

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Article 25 Flickr under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.