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Reference https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/be-a-doctor-still-do-
physics.591907/
There are lots of ways to combine physics and medicine. There are less ways of
combining astrophysics and medicine. You've already mentioned radiology, but from
the medicine side of things you could look into radiation oncology, nuclear
medicine, or opthamology - all of which have a fair amount of physics involved in
them. Or what about space and aviation medicine? As technology advances there
are likely going to be more specialties that develop that will require a physics
background, particularly if you're interested in the research side of things.
Neuroscience (and thus neurology and psycholgy) for example is an exciting field
right now that has a lot of crossover with physics and other disciplines such as
computer science, mathematics, engineering, as well as the traditional
biochemistry. From the physics side of things you could look into medical physics,
biophysics, biomedical engineering, or back to neuroscience. You could also just
keep physics as a hobby. One of the medical oncologists I work with is a member of
our local astronomy club. Amateur astronomers have made significant contributions
to the field too, so that's always an option, no matter what career fate has in store
for you.
Reference https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/be-a-doctor-still-do-
physics.591907/
Very often, you may have an idea that a career is going to be a certain way, but after taking it up, you may
find it to be completely different from what you expected. At the time that I wanted to be a scientist, I
thought I could pursue my own curiosity. When I went to grad school however, I found that I could not
pursue the problems I was personally interested in. Rather, I had to work on what my prof was interested
in. Also I was constrained by the research interests of the research group I was in. Also, as a grad
student, there is a great pressure to work in so-called 'hot' areas so that it becomes easier to get a job
later on. However, the area which you are interested in may not qualify as a 'hot' area. The same story
continues as a post-doc. Throughout this period, the emphasis is on publishing papers in 'hot' topics so as
to increase your chances of getting a permanent job. If you are lucky enough to get a tenured professor
job, by the time you do this, you are probably already 45. Fine, now you have a permanent appointment
and nobody can fire you. So you can finally work on the areas which you are interested in. But, you've
already spent 15 years of your life working on stuff which didn't interest you. Rather, I would suggest, take
up something which you like doing as your profession, but not something you are overly passionate about
or interested in. In your case, you can continue working as a doctor(as long as you don't hate it), and
work on theoretical physics in your spare time, or on weekends, as a hobby. There is a lot of application of
physics in areas of medicine as well, various things like finding the distribution of weights in various bones
of the human body in case of weightlifters to find out which would be a safe limit or posture, simulating the
flow of blood in the heart, propagation of electrical signals in the nerves, etc.
Reference https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/i-am-a-doctor-can-i-be-a-theoretical-physicist.687841/
I studied engineering & physics in undergrad and almost went for a MD/PhD but decided to go
with straight MD instead. I might be able to give you some perspective on this.
My question for the OP is: how much experience do you really have with physics?
When you're not in the field, its easy to think that it is romantic and that you will be happy. (Just
like many people outside of medicine see it is as exciting and heroic all the time)
Modern physics is also very very different from classical physics and you should at least take an
introductory class in modern or quantum physics before you decide that a physics career is for
you.
Physics is a very very tough field and at least in the US, the job prospect in academics is not very
good. I know of people who have done PhDs who ended up with a job in finance or statistics
because the jobs just are not there. I may be wrong but I'm going to guess that the situation may
be even worse in Egypt.
To become a good researcher and professor in physics, you need to not only be good at math.
You need to be naturally talented in math or you simply will not succeed. You need to ask
yourself if that adjective applies to your math skills.
Becoming a good physician is much much easier than becoming a good physicist. I'd suggest
that you finish your MD and take a few physics classes in your free time. If after you get your
MD, you really still hate medicine and really do love whats going on in physics, then switch.
You're already almost a doctor. It will help you in the future even if you decide to switch to
physics. Don't throw it away.
I used concepts from physics and chemistry quite frequently, especially in physiology.
Cardiovascular = fluid dynamics, pressure, circuits. Pulmonary = pressure, some acid/base.
Renal = lots of acid/base. Neuro = concepts from E&M, such as potential gradients, etc.
You'd be surprised how much easier your life will be when going through some of these topics if
you have a solid understanding of the major concepts from your pre-req physics and chemistry
classes. Do you have to remember every single equation/detail from the pre-reqs? No. The
conceptual understanding is much more important, IMHO.
My suggestion would be to do the research APD suggests, and also start acting
like an engineer. Don't worry at all about what kind of engineer, just start. Some
part of engineering will capture your imagination. Find a bunch of old broken stuf
and take it apart. See what's inside, think about what makes the junk work. It's
fun. Try all diferent kinds of engineering fun projects. Build a model airplane,
build lego structures, build something out of wood, try an electronics kit,
program a computer. Have fun learning to use tools and make things with your
own hands. That's the skill that every kind of engineer needs.
I know lots of really good engineers who did not pick "what kind" until half way
through college. Don't work to hard to narrow down the choices, they are all great
and all fun to do for life.
Dylan - I remember having this same question about batteries. Batteries force
electrons out of the negative terminal, and suck electrons into the positive
terminal. Inside a battery there are actually two separate chemical reactions
going on at the same time. One reaction pushes electrons out and the other
reaction pulls electrons in. The electrons pulled into the positive terminal are
"retired" by that reaction; electrons don't actually travel through the battery and
come out the negative terminal a second time. (Deep inside the battery there is
another chemical pathway we never see wherepositive charged chemical
compounds move between the two reactions. This keeps everything electrically
neutral.)
When you buy a fresh battery it comes loaded up with chemical "fuel" to run the
two reactions for a while. When the fuel runs out, one or both of the reactions
stop and we say the battery is "dead".