Medical Physics
Overview
| Degree | Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) |
| Field | Natural Sciences and Technology |
| Language | German |
| Standard program duration | 6 semesters |
| Admission restrictions | None |
| Further information | Homepage Module Handbook (German only) Curriculum |
Short profile
To an ever greater extent, medicine is also applied physics. Modern medicine is inconceivable without highly complex and sophisticated devices, which have long been integral to hospitals and medical practices. Ultrasound imaging reveals deposits in arteries. Strong magnetic fields in MRI systems make muscles, organs, and fat visible. Physics plays a role not only in diagnosis, but also in treatment: Lasers cut more precisely than scalpels, and accelerators can destroy tumors with high-energy radiation while preserving the surrounding healthy tissue.
Experts are needed to develop and to use this complex technology. Medical physicists are needed. With their knowledge of physics, they help to make medicine better, safer, and thus more humane as well. They build a bridge between the disciplines, and also between industry and the hospital. Besides developing the necessary technologies, medical physicists often are the ones who put them to use in treating patients. This requires not only technical know-how, but also a sense of responsibility and skill in dealing with people.
This program is offered in cooperation with Ruhr-Universität Bochum, which is responsible for the medical part. It is a degree program in Physics that is oriented toward a special and important application field, namely physical-technical aspects of medicine. Accordingly, the physics portions are only slightly reduced in comparison to a normal Physics program, to make room for the portion devoted to the subject of medicine.
Knowledge and skills
Students should come with a pronounced interest in natural sciences and should also be on friendly terms with mathematics, since this is an "almost normal" Physics program. Advanced courses at school in mathematics and physics are useful, but not essential. For this degree program, the preparatory course in mathematics is helpful. It serves to refresh and supplement the mathematics students have learned in school. It is offered once a year, in September, and lasts three weeks.
Professional fields
As specialists, medical physicists are in demand in the job market – the need for experts continues to grow as the technology advances. At research centers and accelerator facilities as well as in medical technology companies, they develop, optimize, and test techniques and devices. As a result of research over the past few decades, for example, the procedures used in nuclear medicine have become faster and more precise. Thus radioactive substances make changes in tissues and metabolism visible.
At clinics and in medical practices, the use of equipment is monitored by medical physicists, who also perform managerial and advisory tasks. When it comes to radiation therapy for cancer patients, they work together with doctors in a team. To selectively destroy tumors, they plan the radiation doses to be administered from different directions with millimeter precision.
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Location & approach
The campus of TU Dortmund University is located close to interstate junction Dortmund West, where the Sauerlandlinie A 45 (Frankfurt-Dortmund) crosses the Ruhrschnellweg B 1 / A 40. The best interstate exit to take from A 45 is “Dortmund-Eichlinghofen” (closer to South Campus), and from B 1 / A 40 “Dortmund-Dorstfeld” (closer to North Campus). Signs for the university are located at both exits. Also, there is a new exit before you pass over the B 1-bridge leading into Dortmund.
To get from North Campus to South Campus by car, there is the connection via Vogelpothsweg/Baroper Straße. We recommend you leave your car on one of the parking lots at North Campus and use the H-Bahn (suspended monorail system), which conveniently connects the two campuses.
TU Dortmund University has its own train station (“Dortmund Universität”). From there, suburban trains (S-Bahn) leave for Dortmund main station (“Dortmund Hauptbahnhof”) and Düsseldorf main station via the “Düsseldorf Airport Train Station” (take S-Bahn number 1, which leaves every 15 or 30 minutes). The university is easily reached from Bochum, Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Duisburg.
You can also take the bus or subway train from Dortmund city to the university: From Dortmund main station, you can take any train bound for the Station “Stadtgarten”, usually lines U41, U45, U 47 and U49. At “Stadtgarten” you switch trains and get on line U42 towards “Hombruch”. Look out for the Station “An der Palmweide”. From the bus stop just across the road, busses bound for TU Dortmund University leave every ten minutes (445, 447 and 462). Another option is to take the subway routes U41, U45, U47 and U49 from Dortmund main station to the stop “Dortmund Kampstraße”. From there, take U43 or U44 to the stop “Dortmund Wittener Straße”. Switch to bus line 447 and get off at “Dortmund Universität S”.
The AirportExpress is a fast and convenient means of transport from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to Dortmund Central Station, taking you there in little more than 20 minutes. From Dortmund Central Station, you can continue to the university campus by interurban railway (S-Bahn). A larger range of international flight connections is offered at Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is about 60 kilometres away and can be directly reached by S-Bahn from the university station.
The H-Bahn is one of the hallmarks of TU Dortmund University. There are two stations on North Campus. One (“Dortmund Universität S”) is directly located at the suburban train stop, which connects the university directly with the city of Dortmund and the rest of the Ruhr Area. Also from this station, there are connections to the “Technologiepark” and (via South Campus) Eichlinghofen. The other station is located at the dining hall at North Campus and offers a direct connection to South Campus every five minutes.
The facilities of TU Dortmund University are spread over two campuses, the larger Campus North and the smaller Campus South. Additionally, some areas of the university are located in the adjacent “Technologiepark”.
Site Map of TU Dortmund University (Second Page in English).