LSU's Department of Physics & Astronomy offers a Master of Science degree with a concentration in Health Physics. The M.S. degree program seeks to train students for a professional career in health physics, including successful completion of future board certification exams. Students completing the health physics concentration should be competitive for entry-level health physics positions. Some students choose to continue their education by pursuing a PhD degree.<br><br>Students spend their first year in the classroom learning the fundamentals of health physics: radiation detection and instrumentation, radiation protection, radiation biology, and additional topics. Second-year students in the health physics concentration take courses relevant to applied nuclear science and radiation protection to prepare them for careers either with industrial companies, hospitals, and national laboratories that use radiation sources or for Federal or State government agencies that regulate radiation use.<br><br>Students in the health physics concentration complete a thesis based on hypothesis-driven research during the second year of training. Thesis research culminates in a public presentation and thesis defense. The results of the thesis are expected to be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.