Structure
The MAS in Medical Physics is structured as a part time study that takes two years. The programme requires a total of 63-67 ECTS credits depending on the specialisation. It is subdivided into a basic study programme and a specialisation programme. The first year covers the basic study and all lectures during the two semesters are held on one day per week.
During the first year, all students stay together and follow the basic lectures. In the semester breaks the students attend block courses, where the focus is on practical and hands on work. After the first year the students have to decide between the two specialisations:
A. Radiation Therapy
B. General Medical Physics
The specialisation A “Radiation Therapy" is designed for medical physicists, who are intended to obtain the DownloadSSRMP certification in Medical Physics (PDF, 110 KB). The specialisation B “General Medical Physics” gives the students the opportunity to focus on one of the offered majors as: Biocompatible Materials, Bioelectronics, Bioengineering, Bioimaging, Biomechnaics, Neuroinformatics, Molecular Biology and Biophysics and Radiation Therapy. During the forth semester all students write a master thesis on a topic related to their specialization programme.
The specialisation A in Radiation Therapy comes with a fixed curriculum. The students of the General Medical Physics specialisation can choose their courses from a major specific course list. Those lists are divided in core and elective lectures in each of which a minimum of ECTS credits have to be accomplished. Another difference in the structure of the two specialisations are the block courses. While the two block courses in the second year of the MAS studies, which are held during the semester breaks, are compulsory for the students following specialisation A (if not attended already), the students in specialisation B have to organise practical work of at least 2 weeks in the selected field.
In addition, all students have to take a “Clinical Medicine” course, which gives the students the opportunity to get an insight into another field of medical physics. A list of Clinical Medicine courses, which is the only part of the MAS which is not integrated into the course catalogue of ETH, is distributed after the second semester. Typically, the Clinical Medicine courses are seminars and colloquia, which do not grant ETCS credits.