What do the FRCR Physics lectures cover?

The 17 films follow the RCR First FRCR Physics curriculum in order: X-ray production and interaction, image quality, detectors, mammography, fluoroscopy, CT, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, MRI, radiation biology, UK legislation (IR(ME)R and IRR17) and biostatistics, finishing with a rapid review of the whole course.

Are any of the lectures free?

Yes. The first 2 films, X-ray production and X-ray interaction, are free to watch. The rest of the course is included with any FRCRX plan, alongside the 3,500-question bank and timed mock exams.

How long is the course?

About 13.1 hours in total, split into 586 chapters so you can jump straight to the part you need. Most films run 30 to 60 minutes.

How should I use the lectures alongside questions?

Watch a film, then practise the same topic in Topic Focus straight away. Each film ends with the facts that examiners test most, and the question bank tracks which items you miss so you know which chapters to rewatch.

FRCR Physics lectures

A complete video course for First FRCR (Part 1) Physics. 17 narrated films take you through the RCR curriculum in order, from the X-ray tube to MRI safety and UK legislation, with the facts examiners test called out at the end of each one.

Films: 17
Teaching: 13.1 h
Chapters: 586
Free films: 2

Watch the free films →See plans

Watch film 01 free: X-ray production

The tube, the spectrum and the focal spot.

Course outline

The films are grouped the way the syllabus builds: the physics of the beam first, then each imaging system, then safety and law.

Matter and the beam

Film 0132 min30 chaptersFree

X-ray production

The tube, the spectrum and the focal spot

What it covers

Radiation and the atom
The x-ray tube
The spectrum
Focal spot and beam geometry

Facts the exam tests

c = 3 × 10⁸ m/s. Energy ∝ frequency. Wavelength falls as frequency rises.
Ionising means > ~15 eV. MRI radiofrequency is not ionising.
Bremsstrahlung is a continuum to kVp. Characteristic peaks are target K/L lines only.

All 30 chapters

0:00X-ray production
0:46Electromagnetic radiation
1:59What "ionising" means
2:59X-rays versus gamma rays
3:35Other ionising radiation: alpha and beta
4:25Shells and binding energy
5:36The tube in one picture
6:28The cathode: filament and thermionic emission
7:39Focusing cup and space charge
8:38The anode
9:41Envelope, window and housing
10:43Generator: kV, mA and time
12:15Heat and tube rating
13:22What happens to the electrons in the target
14:13Bremsstrahlung
15:34Bremsstrahlung and atomic number
16:17Characteristic radiation
17:29Auger electrons
18:14Anatomy of the spectrum
19:20Changing mA
19:58Changing kVp
21:13When the characteristic lines appear, and what a new target does
22:10Filtration
23:16Half value layer
24:26Summary: five things that change the spectrum
25:18Using two energies: DEXA
26:23The line focus principle
27:47The anode heel effect
29:00Blooming, off-focus radiation and collimation
30:22Key points

Practise this topic: X-ray physics questions

Film 0235 min26 chaptersFree

X-ray interaction

Photoelectric, Compton and attenuation

What it covers

What can happen to a photon
Scatter
Photoelectric absorption and contrast
Beyond the diagnostic range
Attenuation in numbers

Facts the exam tests

Coherent scatter: no ionisation, no dose, no image.
Compton: outer shell, fog, occupational dose, independent of Z.
Photoelectric ∝ Z³ / E³. Iodine K-edge 33.2 keV; barium 37.4 keV.

All 26 chapters

0:00Interaction of x-rays with matter
1:08Transmitted, absorbed or scattered
2:05Five interactions, three that matter
2:54Coherent scatter
4:33Compton scatter: the mechanism
5:50Compton scatter: angle and energy
7:11What decides the probability of Compton scatter
8:34Why Compton scatter is a problem
9:53The photoelectric effect: the mechanism
11:06After the absorption
12:36Atomic number cubed, energy cubed
13:51How the photoelectric effect creates contrast
15:23Which interaction dominates?
17:07The K-edge
18:41Using the K-edge: contrast media
20:20Why shielding is made of lead
21:30Contrast or dose: choosing exposure factors
22:57A special case: the newborn
23:58Pair production
25:33Photodisintegration
26:31Differential absorption
27:47The linear attenuation coefficient
29:18The mass attenuation coefficient
30:36Attenuation coefficient and half value layer
32:08Compton against photoelectric
33:26Key points

Practise this topic: X-ray physics questions

Film 0353 min37 chaptersIncluded with a plan

General X-ray

Contrast, resolution, noise, scatter and grids

What it covers

Image quality and noise
Scatter, collimation and grids
Spatial resolution and geometry
Contrast, display and exposure control
Artefacts

Facts the exam tests

Four image traits: noise, spatial resolution, contrast, brightness.
Grids raise patient dose (Bucky factor). Air gaps do not.
Magnification = SID ÷ SOD. Geometric blur grows with OID and focal-spot size.

All 37 chapters

0:00General x-ray concepts
0:50Three ways to spoil an image
1:43Quantum noise
3:18Signal to noise ratio
4:31More mAs or more kVp?
5:53Distance and the inverse square law
6:58What processing can and cannot do
7:54Scatter
9:38Collimation
11:06The anti-scatter grid
12:19Grid ratio and grid frequency
13:37The price of a grid: Bucky factor
14:48Types of grid
16:24Grid cut-off
17:53The air gap
19:00Answering noise questions
20:09Spatial resolution
21:31Three sources of unsharpness
22:20Detector unsharpness and the pixel
24:09Geometric unsharpness: the focal spot
25:18Geometric unsharpness: the distances
26:28Magnification
28:00Distortion
29:20Modulation transfer function
30:57Detective quantum efficiency
33:13Contrast and kVp
34:50Subject contrast and receptor contrast
36:13How the receptor responds: film and digital
37:34Bit depth
38:49Windowing
40:30Rescaling and the look-up table
42:21Getting the exposure right in digital radiography
44:28Automatic exposure control
46:06Artefacts common to all radiography
47:31Grid artefacts
48:45Artefacts of film, CR and DR
50:17Key points

Practise this topic: X-ray physics questions

X-ray systems

Film 0439 min29 chaptersIncluded with a plan

Detectors

Film, computed radiography and flat panels

What it covers

Film-screen radiography
The digital image
Computed radiography
Flat panel detectors

Facts the exam tests

CR: barium fluorohalide traps, red laser, blue-green light, white-light erase.
Indirect DR: X-rays → light → charge. Direct DR: amorphous selenium, no light spread.
Digital is linear across a wide exposure range. Screen-film is not.

All 29 chapters

0:00Image detectors
1:10What every detector has to do
1:56The intensifying screen
3:24Inside the cassette: film and the latent image
4:34Optical density
5:37The characteristic curve
7:21Automatic exposure control
9:04A digital image is a grid of numbers
9:53Pixel size, pixel pitch and resolution
11:25Bit depth
12:32Dynamic range: film versus digital
13:51Windowing
15:10Why digital can mean less dose
16:56Film-screen versus digital: summary
17:41Types of digital detector
18:45The storage phosphor
20:24Reading the plate
21:53Latitude, fading and erasure
23:29Spatial resolution in CR
24:48The flat panel and its TFT array
26:16Indirect conversion
27:15The weakness of indirect detectors: lateral spread of light
28:37Direct conversion
30:15Fill factor
31:31Detective quantum efficiency
33:50Direct versus indirect, and resolution in DR
35:08When elements fail, and when they are combined
36:26Workflow: centralised and decentralised
37:09Key points

Practise this topic: Digital radiography questions

Film 0538 min28 chaptersIncluded with a plan

Mammography

Low energy, fine detail, low dose

What it covers

Why mammography is different
Shaping the beam
The tube and the geometry
The magnification view
Digital mammography and dose

Facts the exam tests

Target band ~16–23 keV. Photoelectric contrast needs a near-monoenergetic beam.
Cathode at the chest wall. Never pair an Rh target with a Mo filter.
Compression, grid, and 0.1 mm mag spot are the geometry locks.

All 28 chapters

0:00Mammography
1:08Two demands on a mammogram
2:11Why low energy
3:10The photoelectric effect and the energy window
4:44A different target
6:06The molybdenum spectrum
7:14K-edge filtration
8:52Target and filter combinations
10:10The combination that is never used
11:13Tungsten targets and other filters
12:39The beryllium window
13:46Focal spot, tube current and exposure time
15:11The heel effect, put to use
16:29Compression
17:39The grid
19:17Magnification geometry
20:30Why magnification needs the small focal spot
21:22The air gap replaces the grid
22:30Contact and magnification compared
23:33Spatial resolution
24:51What digital gives in return
26:11Noise, dark noise and the flat field
28:28Digital artefacts
29:21Tomosynthesis
30:36Mean glandular dose
33:14Positive predictive value
34:47Mammography against general radiography
36:19Key points

Film 0646 min32 chaptersIncluded with a plan

Fluoroscopy

Intensifiers, flat panels and dose control

What it covers

What fluoroscopy is
The image intensifier
The flat panel detector
Controlling the exposure
Dose and staff protection

Facts the exam tests

Keep the II close and the tube far. Source-above-table raises lens dose.
Electronic mag raises air kerma, not KAP. Geometric mag is inverse-square.
ABC is fluoro. AEC is radiography. They are not the same loop.

All 32 chapters

0:00Fluoroscopy
0:59Fluoroscopy versus radiography
2:15The imaging chain
3:13Last image hold and the spot image
4:31The image intensifier at a glance
5:27Four conversions
7:02The gains
8:38Conversion factor and the ageing intensifier
9:56Optics, aperture and the television camera
11:13Artefacts: geometric distortion
12:25Artefacts: brightness, glare and lag
13:44How a flat panel works
14:51Pitch, fill factor and matrix
16:10Binning
17:34Frame averaging
18:33Flat panel versus image intensifier
19:38What limits spatial resolution
21:44Automatic brightness control
23:33Choosing the kilovoltage: iodine and barium
24:56Kilovoltage and dose
26:23Electronic magnification
27:47Geometric magnification and good geometry
29:12Pulsed fluoroscopy
30:50Digital subtraction angiography
32:27The interventional tube and beam
33:56Kerma and the kerma-area product
35:35Skin dose indicators
37:11Skin injury
38:45Keeping the patient's dose down
40:59Scatter and where to stand
42:14Protecting the staff
44:01Key points

Practise this topic: Fluoroscopy questions

Film 0762 min45 chaptersIncluded with a plan

CT

Acquisition, image quality, dose and artefacts

What it covers

The scanner
From data to image
Acquiring the data
Image quality
Dose
Artefacts

Facts the exam tests

Pitch < 1 overlaps and raises dose. Pitch > 1 gaps and drops dose.
HU is relative to water and moves with kV and beam hardening.
Effective mAs = mAs / pitch. Iterative reconstruction trades dose for noise.

All 45 chapters

0:00Computed tomography
0:58How CT differs from radiography
2:03Inside the gantry
3:22Filtration and the bow-tie filter
4:52Collimation, septa and detectors
6:26Ray, projection and sinogram
7:21The processing chain
8:12Back projection and filtered back projection
9:37Iterative reconstruction
10:44The reconstruction kernel
11:59Matrix, pixel and voxel
13:08The Hounsfield unit
14:23CT numbers change with beam energy
15:47Window level and width
17:04Typical windows
18:03Axial and helical scanning
19:29Pitch
21:03Pitch, dose and effective mAs
22:52Changing the beam width and the voltage
24:17Automatic tube current modulation
25:29Cardiac CT: gating
26:51CT fluoroscopy
28:05Dual-energy CT: the principle
29:42Dual-energy CT: what it gives you
30:58Photon-counting CT
32:16Noise and signal to noise ratio
34:06Contrast resolution
35:25Spatial resolution
37:25The trade-offs
38:36How dose is distributed
39:54CTDI, DLP and effective dose
42:12Patient size and reference levels
44:05Risk and dose reduction
45:55Artefacts: an overview
46:45Beam hardening: cupping and dark bands
48:47Partial volume
49:52Photon starvation
51:04Metal artefact
52:38Aliasing
53:36Patient motion
54:51Incomplete projection
55:52Ring artefact
56:49Helical artefacts and the windmill
58:16Stair step, zebra and cone beam
59:40Key points

Practise this topic: CT physics questions

Ultrasound, NM, MRI

Film 08a39 min32 chaptersIncluded with a plan

Ultrasound 1

Sound, transducers and image formation

What it covers

Sound waves
How sound interacts with tissue
The transducer
The beam
Spatial resolution
Forming the image

Facts the exam tests

Soft-tissue speed is 1540 m/s. Attenuation ≈ 0.5 dB cm⁻¹ MHz⁻¹.
Axial resolution is SPL. Lateral resolution is beam width. Elevation is slice thickness.
Pulse-echo range is half the round-trip. PRF sets the depth limit.

All 32 chapters

0:00Ultrasound: sound, transducers and image formation
0:54What sound is
1:45Frequency, wavelength and speed
2:47The speed of sound in tissue
4:19Interference
5:13Intensity and the decibel
6:29Acoustic impedance
7:30Reflection
8:49Refraction
10:11Specular reflection and scatter
11:48Absorption and attenuation
13:18Choosing the frequency
14:17The piezoelectric effect
15:44Inside the probe
16:29Resonance and crystal thickness
17:31Damping, pulse length and Q factor
19:08The matching layer
20:09Linear and curvilinear arrays
21:36The phased array
22:58Near field and far field
24:12What sets the length of the near field
25:05Focusing the beam
26:29The stand-off pad
27:17Three directions
27:56Axial resolution
29:33Lateral resolution
30:52Elevation resolution
32:08Resolution: summary
33:11Pulse and echo
34:41A mode, B mode and M mode
35:55Brightness controls: TGC, gain and power
37:41Key points

Practise this topic: Ultrasound physics questions

Film 08b42 min30 chaptersIncluded with a plan

Ultrasound 2

Doppler, artefacts and safety

What it covers

Doppler ultrasound
Greyscale artefacts
Improving the image
Safety

Facts the exam tests

Doppler shift needs an angle. Power Doppler has no direction and no aliasing.
Aliasing is a PRF / Nyquist lock. Colour writes over B-mode.
TI and MI are the safety readouts. Do not park the probe on one spot.

All 30 chapters

0:00Doppler, artefacts, advanced techniques and safety
0:42The Doppler effect
1:46The Doppler equation
3:22The Doppler angle
5:19Continuous wave Doppler
6:14Pulsed wave Doppler and the spectral display
8:06Colour Doppler
9:40Power Doppler
11:03Four kinds of Doppler compared
11:51Aliasing and the Nyquist limit
13:05Recognising and correcting aliasing
14:55Colour artefacts: twinkle and pseudoflow
16:11Flash, colour bleed, tissue vibration and mirror image
17:42The assumptions behind the image
18:42Side lobe artefact
20:02Beam width artefact
20:56Reverberation
22:08Comet tail and ring down
23:44Mirror image artefact
25:00Speed displacement artefact
26:10Refraction artefacts
27:37Shadowing and enhancement
29:02Greyscale artefacts: summary
29:51Tissue harmonic imaging
31:22What harmonic imaging does to the image
32:29Compound imaging, and the two compared
34:15Thermal index
36:20Mechanical index and cavitation
37:56Output by mode, and obstetric guidance
40:03Key points

Practise this topic: Ultrasound physics questions

Film 09a53 min36 chaptersIncluded with a plan

Nuclear medicine 1

Radioactivity and the gamma camera

What it covers

Radioactive decay
Making and measuring radioactivity
The gamma camera
Quality control and safety instruments

Facts the exam tests

Neutron-rich nuclei β⁻. Proton-rich nuclei β⁺ or electron capture.
1/T_eff = 1/T_phys + 1/T_biol. Store ~10 physical half-lives.
Camera chain: collimator → NaI(Tl) → PMT → pulse-height analyser.

All 36 chapters

0:00Nuclear medicine 1
0:43Emission, not transmission
1:30Stable and unstable nuclei
2:50Too many neutrons: beta-minus decay
4:42Too many protons, energy to spare: beta-plus decay
5:49Annihilation
6:57Too many protons, no energy to spare: electron capture
8:29Isomeric transition and gamma emission
10:05Metastable states: technetium-99m
11:47Internal conversion
12:53Alpha decay
13:46Decay modes: summary
15:02Producing radionuclides
17:06Activity and half-life
18:26Worked example: counting half-lives
19:37Physical, biological and effective half-life
21:08The gamma camera in one picture
21:54The collimator: selecting by direction
23:29Matching the collimator to the energy
24:47Sensitivity against resolution
26:27The effect of distance
27:56Pinhole, converging and diverging collimators
29:39The scintillation crystal
31:14Photomultiplier tubes and position
32:49The pulse height analyser and the energy window
35:30Downscatter and the order of tracers
37:31Static, dynamic and SPECT; matrix size
39:01The star artefact
39:54Camera quality control: uniformity
41:52Energy window, resolution and linearity
42:50Centre of rotation, and the QC schedule
43:58Well counter and thyroid probe
45:30Geiger–Müller counter and ionisation chamber
47:34The dose calibrator
49:18Personal dosimeters, and why not lead aprons
51:26Key points

Practise this topic: Nuclear medicine questions

Film 09b51 min37 chaptersIncluded with a plan

Nuclear medicine 2

Generators, SPECT and PET

What it covers

Dealing with a spill
The generator and its quality control
SPECT
PET physics
PET-CT: correction, quantification and preparation
Quality control and numbers to learn

Facts the exam tests

SPECT is tomography of a gamma camera. PET is coincidence of 511 keV pairs.
Tc-99m is the workhorse: 6 h, 140 keV, generator from Mo-99.
F-18 FDG is PET. Half-life 110 min. Cyclotron, not generator.

All 37 chapters

0:00Nuclear medicine 2
0:49A minor spill
2:08A major spill, and three special cases
3:30The technetium generator
4:57Growth and elution
6:00Transient and secular equilibrium
7:32Radionuclide purity: molybdenum breakthrough
9:19Chemical purity: aluminium
10:43Radiochemical purity: free pertechnetate
12:20What free pertechnetate looks like
13:20The three purity tests together
14:37Critical organ and target organ
16:55SPECT: rotating the gamma camera
18:29SPECT and SPECT-CT images
19:25Attenuation and depth
20:37Centre of rotation and the tuning fork
21:47Positron emission
22:46Annihilation
23:56SPECT and PET hardware
25:18Coincidence detection
26:20What limits PET resolution
28:02True, scatter and random coincidences
29:23Rejecting unwanted events
30:412D and 3D acquisition
32:03Dead time and count rate
33:17Time of flight
34:42Attenuation correction from the CT
36:04Corrected or uncorrected?
37:36Standardised uptake value
38:39What changes the SUV
40:44Truncation artefact
41:48Preparing the patient
43:39PET quality control: blank scan and normalisation
45:09The sinogram and detector faults
46:28Imaging radionuclides to learn
48:16Therapy radionuclides
49:32Key points

Practise this topic: Nuclear medicine questions

Film 10a50 min37 chaptersIncluded with a plan

MRI 1

Signal, contrast, encoding and sequences

What it covers

Magnetism and resonance
Relaxation
Image contrast
Spatial encoding
Time, resolution and signal
Pulse sequences

Facts the exam tests

B0 is always on. Larmor frequency rises with field strength.
T1: 63% recovery. T2: 37% remaining. A 180° pulse turns T2* into T2.
Short TR + short TE = T1. Long TR + long TE = T2. Short TR + long TE is a distractor.

All 37 chapters

0:00MRI 1
1:08Which nuclei give a signal
2:23Protons in the magnet
3:45The coordinate system
4:33Precession and the Larmor equation
5:50The RF pulse and resonance
6:53What the RF pulse does
7:51In phase, and why that gives a signal
8:39T1: longitudinal recovery
9:42T1 depends on the tissue and on the field
11:15T2: transverse decay
13:17T2 and T2*
14:28Free induction decay
15:21The 180° refocusing pulse
16:38The echo, TE and TR
17:50TR controls T1 contrast, TE controls T2 contrast
19:15T1, T2 and proton density weighting
20:46What the weightings look like
22:07Gradients
23:15Step 1: slice selection
24:27Slice thickness
25:28Step 2: phase encoding
26:53Step 3: frequency encoding
27:50The spin echo sequence
29:02k-space
30:13Scan time
31:332D and 3D acquisition
32:28Spatial resolution
33:33Signal-to-noise ratio
35:31The trade-off table
37:11Spin echo and fast spin echo
39:03Inversion recovery
40:18STIR and FLAIR
42:57Gradient echo
44:57Spoiled and refocused gradient echo
46:48Echo planar imaging
48:25Key points

Practise this topic: MRI physics questions

Film 10b67 min46 chaptersIncluded with a plan

MRI 2

Diffusion, artefacts, hardware and safety

What it covers

Diffusion, perfusion and flow
Fat, water and contrast
Artefacts
Cardiac and breast
Hardware and safety

Facts the exam tests

Fat sat, STIR, and in/out of phase are three different fat tricks.
Gradient-echo is T2*. Spin-echo refocuses static inhomogeneity.
SAR, dB/dt, and projectile risk are the hardware safety locks.

All 46 chapters

0:00MRI 2
0:56Diffusion weighting: the principle
2:08The diffusion sequence
3:29The b value
4:50The ADC map
5:52Restriction or shine-through?
6:57Perfusion imaging and functional MRI
8:18MR angiography: time of flight
9:46MR angiography: phase contrast
11:15Chemical shift
12:26Fat suppression 1: STIR
13:42Fat suppression 2: frequency-selective saturation
14:58In phase and out of phase
16:28The Dixon method
17:19Fat or iron? The order of the echoes
18:56Chemical shift artefact, type 1
20:18Chemical shift artefact, type 2: India ink
21:30Gadolinium
23:33Sorting the artefacts
24:37Aliasing (wrap-around)
26:00Truncation (Gibbs) artefact
27:21Partial volume and cross-talk
28:43Motion and ghosting
30:21Flow and the flow void
32:04Magic angle
33:26Zipper artefact and RF shielding
34:42Magnetic susceptibility
36:11Susceptibility artefact and how to reduce it
37:52Failed fat suppression, and shimming
39:24Eddy currents
40:43Dielectric (standing wave) effect
42:12Herringbone artefact
43:04Artefact summary
44:14Cardiac MRI: bright blood
45:13Dark blood and nulled myocardium
46:59Breast MRI
48:32The scanner hardware
50:04RF coils
51:23Static field hazards
53:21Quench
54:55Gradient hazards: noise and nerve stimulation
57:17Radiofrequency heating: SAR
59:47Burns
1:01:13Gadolinium safety
1:03:04Controlling access and screening
1:04:55Key points

Practise this topic: MRI physics questions

Safety, law, recap

Film 1155 min38 chaptersIncluded with a plan

Radiation biology

Dose, effects on tissue and staying safe

What it covers

Measuring dose
How radiation damages cells
Effects on people
Protection and monitoring

Facts the exam tests

X-ray / γ weighting factor = 1. Alpha = 20. Equivalent dose uses Sv.
Deterministic: threshold, severity rises. Stochastic: no threshold, probability rises.
KAP tracks stochastic risk. Air kerma tracks skin / deterministic risk.

All 38 chapters

0:00Radiation biology, dose and protection
0:53Exposure
1:58Absorbed dose
2:55Kerma
4:08From air kerma to skin dose
5:15Equivalent dose
6:22Effective dose
7:56Three quantities, two units
8:48Kerma-area product
9:52KAP, magnification and collimation
11:00Doses in perspective
12:19From photon to tissue damage
13:36Tracks and linear energy transfer
14:49Relative biological effectiveness and oxygen
16:18Direct and indirect action
17:40DNA and chromosome damage
19:26Which cells are most sensitive
21:24The cell survival curve
23:37Deterministic and stochastic effects
25:05Skin and hair
26:16Lens of the eye and gonads
28:26Acute radiation syndrome
29:41Whole-body doses in order, and triage
31:23Stochastic effects: the linear no-threshold model
33:09Size of the cancer risk, and latency
34:45Hereditary effects
35:57Pregnancy: the stage matters
37:44Pregnancy: doses in practice
39:00The three principles
40:21Dose limits
41:51Time, distance, shielding
43:12Personal protective equipment
44:51Keeping the patient's skin dose down
46:06Gas-filled detectors
47:45Personal dosimeters: film and TLD
49:32OSL and electronic dosimeters; where to wear them
51:21A non-ionising footnote: MRI
52:36Key points

Practise this topic: Radiation protection questions

Film 1242 min33 chaptersIncluded with a plan

UK legislation

IR(ME)R, IRR17 and who is responsible

What it covers

The map
IR(ME)R: protecting the person being exposed
IRR17: protecting staff and the public
When things go wrong, and related legislation

Facts the exam tests

IR(ME)R is patient law. IRR17 is staff and public law.
No patient dose limit. ALARP and DRLs. One person can hold several duty-holder roles.
SAUE fetal notify ≥ 10 mGy (August 2024). Classified-worker and fetal 1 mSv after declaration are IRR17 locks.

All 33 chapters

0:00UK radiation legislation
0:49Two sets of regulations, two groups of people
2:04Where the rules come from
3:02The three principles and who they apply to
4:10What IR(ME)R covers
5:18The four duty holders
6:15Referrer and practitioner: justification
7:42The operator, and holding more than one role
9:11The employer's procedures
10:31Optimisation
11:46Diagnostic reference levels
13:16Limit, constraint and reference level
14:22The medical physics expert and equipment
15:30Nuclear medicine: licences
16:37The 2024 amendment
17:59IRR17: the framework
19:02Risk assessment and restricting exposure
20:20MPE, RPA and RPS
21:54Dose limits: effective dose
22:58Dose limits: equivalent dose
24:15Dose limits: the special cases
25:56Three numbers: 1, 6 and 20
26:50Classified workers
28:14Controlled and supervised areas
29:46Local rules
30:59Duties of employees
31:56Who is told?
33:15Accidental and unintended exposures
34:47Notification thresholds
36:19Other notification criteria
37:46Related legislation
39:35Common exam traps
40:30Key points

Practise this topic: Radiation protection questions

Film 1326 min22 chaptersIncluded with a plan

Biostatistics

Tests, errors, bias and risk

What it covers

Describing data
Chance, error and bias
Diagnostic tests
Measuring disease and risk

Facts the exam tests

Gaussian: ~68 / 95 / 99.7% within ±1 / 2 / 3 SD.
Type I = false positive. Type II = false negative. p < 0.05 is not causation.
Prevalence is a stock. Incidence is a flow.

All 22 chapters

0:00Biostatistics for radiology
0:55The normal distribution
2:05Skew
3:15Precision and accuracy
4:20Statistical significance
5:39Type 1 and type 2 errors
6:58Power
7:55Correlation and causation
8:39Bias
10:06The two-by-two table
11:13Sensitivity and specificity
12:32A worked example
13:30Predictive values
14:31Prevalence changes the predictive values
15:48Accuracy and validity
16:50The threshold trade-off
17:45The ROC curve
19:02Incidence and prevalence
20:00Absolute, relative and attributable risk
21:22Absolute risk reduction and number needed to treat
22:26The odds ratio
24:16Key points

Film 1457 min48 chaptersIncluded with a plan

Rapid review

The whole course in one sitting

What it covers

X-ray production
Interaction with matter
Image quality
Detectors
Mammography
Fluoroscopy
CT
Ultrasound
Nuclear medicine
MRI
Radiation biology and protection
UK legislation
Statistics
Wrap-up

Facts the exam tests

Last-week drill: prompt, answer, lock. Not a first-pass lecture.
UK numbers override US statute. Law is Lecture 12, not NRC / MQSA.
Sit the 40-stem paper after this recap.

All 48 chapters

0:00Rapid review
0:33What happens in the target
1:42Five things that change the spectrum
2:43Focal spot and heel effect
3:33Three interactions
4:48The K-edge
5:51Attenuation and the half value layer
6:44Noise and scatter
7:52Geometry: blur and magnification
8:44What limits resolution
9:48Contrast and windowing
10:46Film against digital
11:42Computed radiography
12:47Flat panel detectors
13:53The mammography spectrum
15:00Mammography against general radiography
16:27Contact and magnification views
17:18Image intensifier and flat panel
18:32Brightness control and magnification
19:26Pulsed fluoroscopy and stored images
20:24Dose and protection
21:30Hounsfield units and windows
22:49Pitch, slice width and gating
23:57The kV trap, and the trade-offs
25:08CT dose and artefacts
26:51Sound in tissue and the probe
28:01Resolution in ultrasound
29:01Doppler
30:08Artefacts, harmonics and safety
31:46Decay and half-life
33:06The gamma camera
34:23The generator and quality control
35:54PET
37:00Relaxation and weighting
38:09Encoding, scan time and trade-offs
39:19Diffusion, sequences and fat
40:35MRI artefacts and safety
42:18Dose quantities
43:48Deterministic and stochastic effects
45:03Doses in order
46:11The fetus
47:22Two sets of regulations
48:39The numbers in IRR17
50:00When something goes wrong
51:22The two-by-two table
52:27Prevalence and the ROC curve
53:46Errors and measures of risk
55:01The end of the course

Lectures and questions together

Watching alone won't get you through a true/false paper. The course is built to be paired with the 3,500-question FRCR Physics bank: watch a film, then answer questions on that topic the same day while it is fresh.

FRCRX records every item you miss. When a topic keeps tripping you up, the chapter list above takes you to the exact minute of the film that explains it. For a topic-by-topic view of the syllabus, see the FRCR Physics topics page, and for the exam itself read what FRCR Physics is and how Part 1 works.

Questions about the lectures

What do the FRCR Physics lectures cover?: The 17 films follow the RCR First FRCR Physics curriculum in order: X-ray production and interaction, image quality, detectors, mammography, fluoroscopy, CT, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, MRI, radiation biology, UK legislation (IR(ME)R and IRR17) and biostatistics, finishing with a rapid review of the whole course.
Are any of the lectures free?: Yes. The first 2 films, X-ray production and X-ray interaction, are free to watch. The rest of the course is included with any FRCRX plan, alongside the 3,500-question bank and timed mock exams.
How long is the course?: About 13.1 hours in total, split into 586 chapters so you can jump straight to the part you need. Most films run 30 to 60 minutes.
How should I use the lectures alongside questions?: Watch a film, then practise the same topic in Topic Focus straight away. Each film ends with the facts that examiners test most, and the question bank tracks which items you miss so you know which chapters to rewatch.

Start with the free films

Watch free →FRCRX on YouTube