Newsletter AMERICAN ASSOCIATION
OF
PHYSICISTS
IN
VOLUM E 23 NO. 2
MEDICINE MARCH / APRIL 1998
AAPM President’s Column Physicists Must Be Involved by Lawrence Rothenberg New York, NY T h e r e ar e ma ny area s of traditional radiology in which m ed ica l p hys ic i sts hav e played an integral role, both in carrying out the clinical p ro c e d u res and in educating the physicians and support personnel involved. These ha ve be en th e tr ad it io nal radiological areas of x-ray imaging which includes computed tomography and mammography, radiation oncology an d b r ach yth e rapy , a nd n uc l ear me d ici ne wit h r ad io nu clid e ima gi ng a n d dosimetry. There are many newer clinical procedures for both imaging and tre a t m e n t which involve either the use of ionizing radiation o r of image evaluation techniques which are being carried out without the significant oversight or involvement of medical physicists. They include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), u ltraso und imag ing (US), intravascular brachytherapy, di git al card iac “c in e” imaging, and electrophysiology. The physicians involved are cardiologists, neurologists, urologists, and general practitioners, none of whom are ex posed to a rigorous curriculum containing extensive
didactic training in the principles of radiation dosimetry, image evaluation, or radiation protection. We, as medical physicists, must make a greater effort to interact with the se g r oup s an d app ris e them of the great contributions which we can make to the ef f ica cy and sa fety o f their pro c e d u res and to the exp e rt is e of their practitioners. In tradition al ra di ol og y, medi c al phy s ici st s ha ve worked hard to establish a s t rong identity in the field. T h rough AAPM, ACMP, and ACR-CMP, we have cooperated with scientific org a n i z atio ns such as RSNA, SNM , ASTRO and ARRS, with regulatory bodies such as FDA, NRC, CRCPD and state regula to ry age nci es, a nd w i th p rofessional and certifying
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o rganizations such as ACR, A BR, JC AHO , AR R T, and AAMD to guarantee a promine n t p os itio n f or med ic al physics topics and for medical physicists in the graduate education, training, and continuing medical education of radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, radiological technologi sts , ra di at io n thera pist s, and dosimetrists. We have not usually been as successful in establishing our prese nce in th e initial medical sc hool trai ning of
INSIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS President’s Column. . . . . . . p. 1 MRI Scans . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 4 ACR/Reimbursement Codes . p. 6 Executive Director’s Column. p. 9 State Sales Tax. . . . . . . . . p. 10 ABR Computer Exams. . . . p. 11 Annual Meeting Photos . . . P. 12 Announcements . . . . . . . . p. 13