Advising
The graduate advisor may be contacted in the program office. The interdepartmental program's Student Affairs Officer is the advisor regarding the departmental, Graduate Division, and University regulations and procedures.
Entering students are assigned a faculty advisor. The student is expected and encouraged to meet with their advisor quarterly regarding their academic program, particularly at the beginning of each quarter to prepare and approve the study list. Students usually retain this advisor until they begin research work for the Ph.D. degree, at which time the chair of the dissertation committee becomes the advisor.
Special problems regarding graduate students are first discussed with the student's advisor, and, as needed, during quarterly faculty meetings. These problems are brought to the attention of the program director either by the student, the student representative, the instructor or the advisor. If academic progress is satisfactory, oral evaluations are made; if the progress is unsatisfactory, the student is informed in writing by the director of the graduate program, who explains possible remedial action and the consequences of unsatisfactory progress. Progress during the first year of graduate study is based primarily upon grade-point averages. When the grade-point average falls below the minimum 3.0, the student is put on probation for the following quarter. A substantial improvement must be made at the end of that quarter; otherwise, the student is subject to dismissal. If, at the end of the third quarter the grade-point average is still below 3.0, the student is recommended for termination of graduate status.

Course Requirements
After selecting a specialty, students acquire sufficient knowledge by taking courses recommended for the specialty; these include the core and required courses. These courses form a basis for the Ph.D. written specialty examination. Students must pass all core courses with grades of B (a B- or lower is not acceptable) or better or pass the entire M.S. comprehensive examination.  
A more sharply focused curriculum may be advised for students with a medical physics background or with a career objective other than that of a practicing medical physicist. Transfer students can either take the six core courses, or pass the M.S. comprehensive examination. They may also take required or other courses as advised by the program director.
The following specialties are offered:
Molecular Imaging
Medical Imaging
Therapeutic Medical. Physics
Radiation Biology

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations
Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass University written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral Advancement to Candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations the University oral qualifying examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to University requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

Written Qualifying Examination:  The written examination consists of submitting a written research proposal to an ad hoc committee consisting of more than two faculty members within the specialty area. The research proposal must be written according to the NIH grant application format. The written proposal will then be presented orally to the ad hoc committee for review.

Oral Qualifying Examination. The written specialty examination for admission to the Ph.D. program should be taken by the end of the sixth quarter in residence. Once this examination is passed and students have chosen a research area for the dissertation, within a reasonable time frame agreed on with the dissertation advisor, they form a doctoral committee and schedule the University Oral Qualifying Examination. This examination is based on a proposed dissertation topic. Passing the examination is a requirement for continuance in the doctoral program.

Advancement to Candidacy
Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation
Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Dissertation)
Required for all students in the program. The format and procedures will be consistent with University requirements. (See UCLA Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines.)

For a general overview indicating important milestones for BMP students' progress, broken down by year, please see Ph.D. Pyramind to Success in Biomedical Physics. For future reference, this document can also be found under Student Resources.