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Who is a medical physicist? |
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By
Prof Dr KH Ng (
PhD, MIPEM, DABMP)
Medical physics involves the application of physics and
engineering to medicine and health. Medical physicists work
closely with medical doctors and are employed in
universities, medical schools, hospitals and medical
research institutes.
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Areas of Specialisation |
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Medical imaging (X-ray, computed tomography, ultrasound,
magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine)
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Radiation oncology or radiotherapy (treatment of cancer
with various kinds of radiation
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Medical Health Physics (protection of workers and
patients from radiation - both ionizing radiation, like
x-rays, and non-ionizing radiation, like lasers and
radio wave)
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Typical Professional Training for
Medical Physics includes: |
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B.Sc. in physics or
engineering or closely-related field
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M. Sc. or Ph.D. in
Medical Physics
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Three or more years
of clinical or hospital training
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Responsibilities |
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The
essential responsibility of a Medical Physicist’s clinical
practice is to assure the optimum use of radiation to
produce a stated diagnostic or therapeutic outcome.
This
responsibility includes:
1. Protection of the patient and others from potentially
harmful or excessive radiation
2.
Establishment of adequate protocols to ensure accurate
patient dosimetry
3. The
measurement and characterisation of radiation
4. The
specification of dose delivered
5. The
development and direction of quality assurance programs
6.
Assistance to the medical doctors in optimising the balance
between the beneficial and deleterious effects of radiation.
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More Information |
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Further information on medical physics and the professional
activities of medical physicists are available at:
The International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP)
www.iomp.org
The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM)
www.aapm.org
The Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM)
www.ipem.org.uk
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Copyright © 2001-2008 College of Radiology, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia
All Rights Reserved
Terms
of Use Last
Updated:
Tuesday, 04 January 2005 |
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