The National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) Bhubaneswar has started the process to offer a three year MSc in medical and radiological physics from August this year. It will be the first institution in Odisha to offer this course.
This national institute has already established the Center for Medical and Radiation Physics (CMRP) to run this course, conduct research and other related activities in the field of medical and radiation physics.
Official sources said medical physics is an applied branch of physics that mainly deals with the applications of ionizing radiation in health care through radiotherapy, diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and the associated radiological protection.
The total number of registered medical physicists in India is about 1042. With the demand for equipment increasing, the number of medical physicists will also increase. There is dire need for more trained medical physicists, said the NISER sources.