What is medical physics or a medical radiation scientist? How do we differentiate a radiographer from a medical radiation scientist and a medical physicists?

JW Tan, 8 Sep 2002

The application of physics and engineering to medicine and health is the field of medical physics. Medical physicists work closely with medical doctors and are employed in universities, medical schools, hospitals and medical research institutes, as well as community hospitals and clinics.

They often specialise in one of three main areas:

• Medical imaging (X-ray, computed tomography, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine)
• Radiation oncology or radiotherapy (treatment of cancer with various kinds of radiation)
• Medical Health Physics (protection of workers and patients from radiation - both ionizing radiation, like x-rays, and non-ionizing radiation, like lasers and magnetic fields)

Typical Professional Training for Medical Physics:

• B.Sc. in physics or closely-related field
• M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Medical Physics
• Three or more years of clinical or hospital training
• Board certification by professional bodies such as the American Board of Medical Physics and the American Board of Radiology

The International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) www.iomp.org;

 the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) www.aapm.org and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) www.ipem.org.uk have further information on medical physics and the professional activities of medical physicists. 

Prof Dr K H Ng
10 Nov, 2002 

Editor’s note:
Please go to http://www.radiologymalyasia.org/Archive/RITHB/who.html in the section on Quick Reference Information (Inside the Human Body) for a brief introduction to the various personnel involved in ionizing radiation as used in Medicine.
 

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Thursday, 21 August, 2003