Physics education research has indicated that students who perceive curricula as relating to real life applications are more engaged with learning materials, and medical physics may provide an absorbing anchoring context. Medical physics is an evolving and expanding field in which concepts in physics and engineering are applied to challenges in medicine. Medical physicists perform critical job functions in healthcare every day, but many physics students complete their entire course of study without learning about the existence of the field. Medical physics, as an applied science, offers an abundance of real-world examples for wide ranging concepts in physics courses. For example, an introductory unit on basic concepts in nuclear physics could be brought to life by a discussion of radioisotopes and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Students learning about electromagnetic radiation may bolster their engagement by learning about radiation therapy used to ablate lung tumors.

Working in the field of medical physics can take many different forms, with careers including regulatory, industry, clinical, research, and/or teaching responsibilities. Medical physicists work in a variety of specializations, including health physics, imaging science, nuclear medicine, and therapy radiation physics. Depending on their specialty, a day in the life of a medical physicist may involve calculating the thickness of concrete shielding required for a proton therapy vault, modeling the radiobiological effects of various radioisotopes, using machine learning to improve computer-aided diagnosis of disease, or acquiring linear accelerator data with a high-precision water tank. The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), an AAPT affiliated organization, offers resources for educators interested in discussing a real-world career field for students who hope to help patients while pursuing a career in physics.

In 2016, Michigan State University began a pilot of a new curriculum of introductory physics for life scientists. Because biology-related applications on the macroscale are complex and require mathematics beyond introductory calculus, the focus is entirely on applications from molecular and cellular biology. Topics that are more relevant for engineering have been removed and topics relevant to biology have been added.  The curriculum is designed around two main themes, diffusion and electric dipoles.  Diffusion illustrates the concepts of conservation of momentum and energy and provides the framework for introducing entropy from the perspective of statistical mechanics.  Electric dipoles illustrate the basic concepts of electromagnetic theory and provides the framework for understanding light waves and light interactions with biomolecules.  These themes are supported by small computational activities to help students understand the physics without advanced mathematics.  Currently the curriculum is offered to ~800 students per semester.

The most common senses of the human body are sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing; however, the body can also respond to various stimuli such as imbalance, pain, and temperature.  Our five senses are instrumental in explaining the way in which mechanics and energy play an instrumental role in how the body works.  From the human mind to the body’s movement and tempo, the way in which physics and biology integrate is unwavering.  Considering that the body is one large electrical circuit, the intricate nature of how nerve impulses send signals through the body defines the distinct nature in which the five senses exist.  In this presentation, a view of how sensory aspects of biophysics are utilized in everyday life will be addressed.

Making the transition from a general algebra-based physics class to one specifically oriented towards life-science majors and pre-health care students? NEXUS/Physics [1] can help. We provide a wide variety of materials and activities, both free for downloading and in reasonably priced commercial contexts. The class assumes students have had the equivalent of high school biology, chemistry, algebra and trig (though calculus concepts are not shied away from and are introduced using algebraic and geometric tools as needed) so connections to the life sciences can be stressed throughout. Our materials include readings, problems, and group-learning activities that help students learn scientific thinking skills stressed by the biology and medical communities [2] including learning to think with symbolic math [3], modeling, and synthesis. Our materials can help you add topics identified as high priority physics for the MCAT [4] including dimensional analysis, fluid dynamics, and free energy.

Our institution has recently created two separate Introductory for Life Science (IPLS) courses – one calculus-based (taken primarily by pre-meds)  and the other algebra-based (taken primarily by pre-physical therapists).  These courses diverged in content depth, coverage, and focus due to the differences in academic background, future preparation needs, interests and attitudes of these two populations. A comparison of the two courses, the students in them, and the resulting pedagogy will be presented,