By judiciously selecting topics and reading materials, one can teach a full semester course on medical physics appropriate for college students not majoring in the natural sciences. This interdisciplinary field offers an opportunity to teach a great deal of basic physics at the freshman level in the context of explaining modern medical technologies such as ultrasound imaging, laser surgery, and...

The process of tightening qualifications to sit for ABR certification exams in subspecialties of medical physics is reaching the end of its arc. Predictably, this has sparked renewed hue and cry from individuals who would prefer to be offered lucrative careers without being held to those higher standards, as evidenced by a recent discussion thread on the electronic networking site LinkedIn. I o...

a Assistant Professor of Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dentistry, Department of Radiology, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. b MS in Medical Physics, School of Para-medicine, Department of Radiology, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. c MS in Medical physics, School of Medicine, Department of Medical Physics, Hamadan University of Medical...

Nowadays we medical physicists are bombarded with guidelines and task reports, and we may see similar ones from different organizations in the United States of America or worldwide. Many extraordinary and diligent medical physicists have devoted their time and knowledge in creating these documents. Yet some of us might be wondering: should we optimize the use of our resources by establishing a ...

In this chapter the physics of medical ultrasound will be discussed at an introductory level for users of the technology. Several texts exist which readers can consult to deepen their understanding. Discussed later in this chapter are parameters related to ultrasound in tissue such as speed of ultrasound, attenuation and acoustic impedance. Values of these parameters for commonly encountered ti...

It is with great sadness that we share that Jean St. Germain, our colleague, friend, and integral member of the Medical Physics Department at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) for over 50 yr, passed away on December 7, 2017. She died peacefully and was with her brother, Amos, at the time. Following completion of graduate study at Rutgers University and a fellowship at Brookhaven Na...

Medical physics is a relatively small professional community, usually with a scarcity of expertise that could greatly benefit students entering the field. However, the reach of the profession can span great geographical distances, making the training of students a difficult task. In addition to the requirement of training new students, the evolving field of medical physics, with its many emergi...

Medical physics has been an indispensable and strategic stakeholder in the delivery of radiological services to the healthcare system of Ghana. The practice has immensely supported radiation oncology and medical imaging facilities over the years, while the locally established training programme continues to produce human resource to feed these facilities. The training programme has grown to rec...

Medical physics is very important in carbon ion radiotherapy, as it is in conventional radiotherapy using X-rays and in estimation of exposed dose in the space environment. High-energy ion beams such as carbon beams have physical characteristics such as the Bragg curve, high LET, and nuclear reactions producing fragmentations. Therefore, understanding these properties well is essential for furt...