Spring 2027

Introduction to Medical Physics

A general interest survey introducing the principles and applications of medical physics, covering biomechanics, ultrasound, optics, ionizing radiation, radiobiology, and nuclear medicine.

offering recorded2 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Ronald Wakai

Summary

1 / 3

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.45 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.40 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.45 GPA, 55.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades).

What you’ll be able to do

  • Apply physics concepts, such as force, energy, and pressure, to the study of human physiology

  • Describe the relevance of physics concepts to the etiology of major disease, such as heart failure, sudden cardiac death, obstructive lung disease, and nerve conduction disorders

  • Explain the principles of medical imaging based on x-rays, gamma rays, sound, and other physical phenomena

  • Understand the principles of radiobiology that underlie radiation sickness and radiation therapy

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PHYSICS 104, 202, 208, or 248

MEDPHYS/PHYSICS 265 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.45 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.40 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.45 GPA, 55.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

RONALD WAKAI is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 250
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 250

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.45 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.40 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.45 GPA, 55.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Biomechanics, energy usage, temperature regulation, and pressure
  • Sound, hearing, ultrasound, and electricity in the body
  • Optics, the eye, and ionizing radiation in diagnosis and therapy
  • Radiobiology and nuclear medicine

Skills

  • Applying physics concepts like force, energy, and pressure to human physiology
  • Describing how physics concepts relate to the etiology of major diseases
  • Explaining principles of medical imaging using x-rays, gamma rays, and sound
  • Understanding radiobiology principles underlying radiation sickness and therapy

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
MEDPHYS/PHYSICS 265 · Spring 2027

Introduction to Medical Physics

Recorded 2026-10-14
MEDPHYS/PHYSICS 265 · Spring 2027

Introduction to Medical Physics

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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    "offering_id": "1274:621:015608",
    "course_id": "MEDPHYS/PHYSICS 265",
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    "title": "Introduction to Medical Physics",
    "credits_min": 2,
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    "offering_id": "1274:754:015608",
    "course_id": "MEDPHYS/PHYSICS 265",
    "course_uid": "course_afbe10c085fb46963211903a",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "015608",
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    "title": "Introduction to Medical Physics",
    "credits_min": 2,
    "credits_max": 2,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
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]
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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "e767570da8d22b5a455460e8cfa6c30cf1f0471ed3553846ad093b37d1d8b91f",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}