Physics & Biology in Medicine

The courses required for the M.S. degree are the four core courses (PBMed 200A, 204, 205, 216) and two of the following four courses: PBMed 203, 219, 223, 248; and the six required courses (PBMed 217, 218, 227, 260A, 260B, 260C), along with any special direction by the graduate adviser.

M.S. and Ph.D. students are required to complete the six core courses with a grade of B or better. M.S. and Ph.D. students are also required to pass all the other required courses and maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.00.

PBMed 596 and 598 may be applied toward the degree. Eight units of 500-series courses may be applied toward the total course requirements, four units toward the minimum graduate course requirement.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required.

Capstone Plan

Students may pass a comprehensive examination (Plan II) that consists of the materials from the core and required courses. The examination is offered at least once a year, and students have two chances to pass the examination.

Students who plan to continue on the Ph.D. study track may request approval from their faculty adviser for the Ph.D. written specialty examination to be used to satisfy the requirement for the M.S. comprehensive examination (Plan II). Students then receive the M.S. degree, in addition to the Ph.D. degree.

Thesis Plan

Every master's degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research.

Students satisfy this requirement by writing a thesis (Plan I) based on a research project. After students complete the course requirements, they must choose a faculty member to guide their research and chair the thesis committee.

Time-to-Degree

From graduate admission to conferral of the M.S. degree, normal progress is six to eight quarters of full-time enrollment.

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Advising

The graduate adviser may be contacted in the program office. The interdepartmental program's student affairs officer is the adviser regarding the departmental, Graduate Division, and university regulations and procedures.

Entering students are assigned a faculty adviser. The student is expected and encouraged to meet with their adviser quarterly regarding their academic program, particularly at the beginning of each quarter to prepare and approve the study list. Students usually retain this adviser until they begin research work for the Ph.D. degree, at which time the chair of the dissertation committee becomes the adviser.

Special problems regarding graduate students are first discussed with the student's adviser, and, as needed, during quarterly faculty meetings. These problems are brought to the attention of the program director either by the student, the student representative, the instructor or the adviser. If academic progress is satisfactory, oral evaluations are made; if the progress is unsatisfactory, the student is informed in writing by the director of the graduate program, who explains possible remedial action and the consequences of unsatisfactory progress. Progress during the first year of graduate study is based primarily upon grade-point averages. When the grade-point average falls below the minimum 3.0, the student is put on probation for the following quarter. A substantial improvement must be made at the end of that quarter; otherwise, the student is subject to dismissal. If, at the end of the third quarter the grade-point average is still below 3.0, the student is recommended for termination of graduate status.

Progress Update Meeting: This meeting is an informal meeting whose purpose is to review the doctoral student's progress toward completion of the degree. This meeting may include a review of progress of individual specific aims of the proposed dissertation, timelines and other relevant issues as determined by the student's doctoral committee. This meeting is required to occur at least annually from the time of advancing to candidacy (passing the first oral qualifying examination) until the final defense. If the time between advancement to candidacy and final defense is less than one year, then this meeting is not required.

All internal members of the doctoral committee are required to be present at this meeting; external members are highly recommended to attend but their presence is not required.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Medical imaging, molecular imaging, molecular and cellular oncology, and therapeutic medical physics.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

After selecting a specialty, students acquire sufficient knowledge by taking courses recommended for the specialty; these include the core and required courses. These courses form a basis for the Ph.D. written specialty examination. Students must pass all core courses with grades of B (a B- or lower is not acceptable) or better or pass the entire M.S. comprehensive examination.

A more sharply focused curriculum may be advised for students with a medical physics background or with a career objective other than that of a practicing medical physicist. Transfer students can either take the four core courses, or pass the M.S. comprehensive examination. They may also take required or other courses as advised by the program director.

The following specialties are offered:

Medical Imaging. Minimum course requirement of 60 hours. The courses for the medical imaging specialty include the six core courses and six required courses, as well as the medical imaging specialty core courses (PBMed 209 and 210). A minimum of four elective courses are required from the following two lists: (a) two to four PBMed elective courses (PBMed 208A, 211, 214, 215, 222, 225, 229, M230, and 286); and (b) zero to two electives from the following courses outside of the program:

Computer Science (Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science) 112, 118, 161, 171, 174, 212A, 212B, 214, 215, 241A, 241B, 267A, 268, 270A, M276A, and 276B.

Electrical Engineering (Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science) 113, 113L, 115A, 115B, 115C, 212A, 213A, 215A, and 230D.

Mathematics (College of Letters and Science) 142, 149, 270A, and 270F.

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (College of Letters and Science) C234.

Appropriate elective courses are selected by the student and the adviser. Students who wish to pursue a hospital-based career should prepare to be Board Certified after graduation by taking additional clinical courses: PBMed 200B, 202A-202B-202C, 203, 208A, and 208B.

Molecular Imaging. Minimum course requirement of 60 hours. The molecular imaging specialty includes the core and required courses within the department, graduate courses from physics, engineering, chemistry/biochemistry, biological chemistry, pharmacology, and biomathematics, and research study and seminar courses.

Molecular and Cellular Oncology. Students must demonstrate competence in the subject matter covered in the core courses. Because of the breadth of radiation biology and experimental radiation oncology, it is not feasible to design a single curriculum for all students. Instead, additional course work is recommended by faculty in accordance with specific needs.

Therapeutic Medical Physics. Students must demonstrate competence in the subject matter covered in the core courses. Additional course work is recommended by faculty in accordance with a student's specific needs.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

Written Qualifying Examination. The written examination consists of the submission of a written research proposal to an ad hoc committee consisting of more than two faculty members within the specialty area. The research proposal must be written according to the NIH grant application format. The written proposal is then presented orally to the committee for review.

Oral Qualifying Examination. The written specialty examination for admission to the Ph.D. program should be taken by the end of the sixth quarter in residence. Once this examination is passed and students have chosen a research area for the dissertation, within a reasonable time frame agreed on with the dissertation adviser, they form a doctoral committee and schedule the University Oral Qualifying Examination. This examination is based on a proposed dissertation topic. Passing the examination is a requirement for continuance in the doctoral program. The written proposal for the first oral qualifying examination is required to be provided to all committee members at least two weeks prior to the date of the oral defense.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Doctoral Dissertation Manuscript: The body of the dissertation manuscript (which excludes "preliminary pages") should be provided to all committee members a minimum of 3 weeks prior to the Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Dissertation) date.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Dissertation)

Required for all students in the program.

Time-to-Degree

It is estimated that full-time students entering the program with no undergraduate deficiencies can complete the Ph.D. degree within five to six years.

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Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

A tentative decision to recommend termination is made in a meeting of the teaching faculty. The student is informed of the decision and given an opportunity to make an appeal before a final decision is reached.

UCLA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and by numerous special agencies. Information regarding the University's accreditation may be obtained from the Office of Academic Planning and Budget, 2107 Murphy Hall.