Interview preparation
A medical physics interview is not only a physics test. It is a test of judgement, preparation, communication and whether you understand the healthcare context.
Build an evidence bank
Prepare examples before you try to memorise answers. Good evidence can come from a degree project, lab work, coding, data analysis, teaching, healthcare volunteering, customer-facing work, safety-critical processes or any situation where you had to handle uncertainty carefully.
- Scientific example. A time you measured, modelled, validated, troubleshot or interpreted data.
- Communication example. A time you explained something technical to someone with a different background.
- Teamwork example. A time you handled disagreement, pressure or competing priorities.
- Healthcare motivation. A clear reason why clinical science is the right setting for your physics skills.
Practise the style of answer
Use a simple structure: situation, action, result, reflection. The reflection is where many answers improve. Explain what you learned, what you would do differently, and how it connects to safe clinical science.
A stronger interview answer sounds like this
It connects technical detail to patient impact. Instead of saying only “I used Python to analyse data”, explain what the data represented, how you checked the result, how you handled uncertainty, and why a reliable answer mattered.
Topics to revise
Review the main medical physics areas: radiotherapy, diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine, MRI, radiation protection and clinical engineering links. You do not need specialist-level detail, but you should understand what each service does and why physicists are needed.
Sources: National School of Healthcare Science STP, IPEM medical physics overview.