Course Objectives

• Recognize the nature and properties of ionizing radiation
• Recognize the fundamentals of radiation chemistry
• Recognize the special role of DNA as the primary target of ionizing radiation in biological systems
• Recognize the basic theories and models of cell survival and tissue response to radiation
• Recognize differences between stochastic and nonstochastic effects
• Recognize how biological systems respond to high-LET radiation

Course Objectives

• "Old" Quantum Mechanics: Blackbody radiation, photoelectric and Compton Effects, Atomic spectra, Rutherford's nuclear model, Bohr's atom and drawbacks of Bohr's theory.
• Elements of "New" Quantum Mechanics: The de Broglie waves, uncertainty principle, wave-particle duality, Schrödinger equation.
• Elements of Atomic Physics: Hydrogen atom, radiative transitions, exclusion principle, periodic table, molecular bonds.
• Nuclear Physics: Composition of nucleus, nuclear mass and binding energy, nuclear force, semi-empirical mass formula, nuclear stability and instability of heavy nucleus, radioactive decays, rate of radioactive decays, half life, radioactive series transformations, and radioactive equilibrium.
• Interaction of radiation with matter -- heavy charged particles: Coulomb force interactions of heavy charged particles, energy loss spectra, stopping power and mass stopping power, semiclassical description and Bethe-Bloch formula for stopping power, range and slowing down time.
• Interaction of radiation with matter -- electrons: Energy loss by ionization, energy loss by radiation, range of electrons and bremsstrahlug yield, linear energy transfer.

Course Objectives

• Interactions of radiation with matter -- photons: Photoelectric interactions, Compton Scattering and effects of binding energy, Coherent scattering interactions, pair and triplet productions, attenuation and mass attenuation coefficients, energy transfer and energy absorption.
• Methods of radiation detection: Ionization chambers, proportional counters, Geiger-Mueller counters, band theory of solids and solid state detectors.
• Dosimetry: Quantities describing radiation beam, kerma and absorbed dose, charged particle equilibrium, Bragg-Gray and Spencer-Attix cavity theory, AAPM protocols for dose measurements.
• Interaction of single beam of x-rays with scattering medium: Phantoms and dose calibration, tissue-air ratios, backscattering factor, tissue-phantom ratios, patient dose calculations, isodose curves, calculation of dose at any point, depth dose distribution for high energy electrons and heavy particles, solving problems.
• External radiation protection: Shielding of Alpha, Beta particles and photon sources, dose equivalent and structural shielding design.
• Neutrons and nuclear fission: Neutron sources and interaction with matter, thermal neutrons and diffusion of neutrons, nuclear fission and chain reaction, nuclear reactors and nuclear explosion, fission products.
• Counting statistics: Radioactive disintegration as a Bernoulli process, statistical distributions, counting radioactive samples, critical levels of detection.

Course Objectives

• Understand the regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and other agencies. Understand 18 U.S.C. 1001 and its implications for the practice of health physics.
• Understand the differences between laws and regulations. Understand how laws are passed and how regulations are promulgated under the Administrative Procedures Act.
• Understand what enforcement sanctions are available to Federal agencies for violations of regulations. Understand the difference between criminal and civil sanctions.
• Understand the philosophy behind the legislative and regulatory processes. Understand the purposes and strategies of the regulations.
• Learn about the various entities that promulgate consensus standards, their respective philosophies, and the effects of their recommendations on the practice of health physics.
• Discuss controversial topics in health physics, such as the linear non-threshold hypothesis.

Course Objectives

• Learn about incidents that have occurred in facilities that use radiation and radioactive materials.
• Analyze the causes of the accidents with a view to preventing future occurrences.
• Analyze the effects of regulations and regulatory bodies, or the absence thereof, on the occurrence and course of accidents. Understand the actions of regulatory bodies in the wake of specific accidents.
• Understand human factors that contribute to accidents.
• Improve written and oral presentation skills.

Course Objectives

• Understand human anatomy and physiology as they contributed to the metabolism of radioactive materials.
• Understand the pathways followed by radioactive material and how they are modeled for dosimetric purposes.
• Learn various methods for dose calculation including ICRP 30 and MIRD.
• Study methods for preventing internal exposure with particular reference to respiratory protection and ventilation.

Available Undergraduate Physics Courses