Qualifier

An Oral Ph.D. Qualifying Exam is required for students pursuing a Ph.D. Degree. Students who are taking the Core Curriculum must have completed all required core courses and at least one advanced course in Medical Physics to be eligible to take the qualifying examination. (Students must also complete the number of credit hours required for a M.S. degree.) The Oral Exam will test the student on core and advanced topics, and will be administered at the end of the second year of enrollment. Each student will choose a single advanced course on which he/she will be tested; the question options for that course will be provided by the instructor of record during the term the student took the course. The questions asked during the exam will require the integration of knowledge gained during completion of the curriculum taken by the student during his/her first two years. The exam will be administered by an eight-member Oral Exam Committee. A student’s advisor cannot be a member of his/her Oral Exam Committee. The exam results will be released no later than two weeks after administration of the examination.

For students who are taking the Core Curriculum, or have obtained waiver(s) for Core Curriculum course(s), all members of the Oral Exam Committee will be members of the Medical Physics Oral Doctoral Qualifying Exam Panel, which will have at least twelve members who serve 3-year staggered terms. The Graduate Committee Chair will select eight members from the panel for each Oral Exam Committee, with two named as alternates in case an appointed member is not available at the time of the exam due to unanticipated circumstances.

For students who ‘opt-out’ of the Core Curriculum, five members of their Oral Exam Committee will be members of the Medical Physics Oral Doctoral Qualifying Exam Panel, and the remaining three members will be selected from a list of faculty members provided by the student and his/her faculty advisor. The student must justify the inclusion of suggested members and also ensure that each proposed member agrees to serve on the Oral Exam Committee, if appointed. The Graduate Committee Chair will appoint the eight-member Oral Exam Committee.

The student must pass the Oral PhD Qualifying Exam in order to subsequently take the Preliminary Exam. A decision of Unconditional Pass, Conditional Pass, or Re-Examination will be made by the Oral Qualifying Exam Committee. Seven of the eight members must be in agreement with the decision for a Pass.

For a Conditional Pass, the condition(s) must be clearly stated and should be completed within six months. If a student is required to be ‘re-examined’ after the Oral Exam on their first attempt, he/she will be given one more opportunity, six months later, to retake the exam. Following the retake, a decision of Unconditional Pass, Conditional Pass, or Fail will be made. Seven of the eight members must be in agreement with the decision for a Pass. For a Conditional Pass, the condition(s) must be clearly stated and must be completed within six months. A decision of ‘Fail’ on a second attempt will cause the student to be transferred from the Ph.D. degree program to the terminal M.S. degree program, where he/she will need to complete and defend a written M.S. thesis.