Newsletter
American Association Of Physicists In Medicine VOLUME 27 NO. 2
MARCH/APRIL 2002
AAPM President’s Column Off to a Good Start Robert G. Gould San Francisco, CA This year is moving quickly with much activity. Committee appointments and liaisons have been finalized with the help of a new, Web-based program set up by Mike Woodward and Sean Benedict of AAPM Headquarters. My thanks to them as it made the job much easier. Appointment letters have been sent out and while some glitches occurred, I feel that with all complexities considered, the program worked well. It is still in refinement and I appreciate the feedback from
members who noted errors when they occurred. Along this same line, Mike’s team at Headquarters has created a mechanism for electronic voting by the Board. This system permits discussion, amendments to motions, and other aspects of the rules of order. Use of electronic voting should allow the Board to move quickly on issues that arise and need fast action. For example, as I write this, several motions involving the Annual Meeting are before the Board. Without electronic voting, these motions could not be considered in time for the meeting. I believe that electronic voting will help empower the Board, allowing broader and faster response to issues.
Make sure you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, which will be held in Montréal July 14–18. Everything about this meeting excites me: the Canadian venue, the scientific program, the continuing educational courses, the social events, and the exhibits. This will be the first Annual Meeting organized by the Meeting Coordination Committee (MCC). This (See Gould - p. 2)
Maintenance of Certification in Medical Physics ABR Physics Trustees W. Hendee, B. Paliwal, S. Thomas Beginning this year (2002), certification in diagnostic radiological physics, medical nuclear physics, and therapeutic radiological physics by the American Board of Radiology (ABR) will result in issuance of a ten-year time-lim-
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
1
ited certificate. To sustain their certification beyond the ten-year limit, physicists will need to engage in the ABR’s program for Maintenance of Certification (MOC). Additional information about the MOC program for medical physicists is available on the ABR Web site (www.theabr.org). The ABR’s MOC program for
medical physicists has four elements, each to be completed over the ten-year period beginning with the date of certification. Once these are completed, the physicist may request a ten-year extension of certification in the field(s) in which he or she was originally certified. The ten-year extension begins on the tenth an-
3/4/02, 1:05 PM
(See Certification - p. 3)
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
Gould (from p. 1) committee was officially formed by the Board at the 2001 RSNA Meeting after more than a year of planning by an ad hoc committee created by Charlie Coffey. The MCC is headed by Bruce Curran and is comprised primarily of the heads of subcommittees, some of which were previously formal committees, such as the Program Committee. For those interested, the AAPM Web site provides easy access to the composition of both the MCC and its subcommittees. Creation of the MCC represents a significant change in how the Annual Meeting will be organized and will allow for better coordination between the scientific, educational, technical and social components of the meeting. The organizational change was
needed in part due to the success of the meeting, which continues to grow in most aspects. For example, the need for more continuing education brought conflicts with the scientific program, which also has expanded over the years. The MCC should be able to better minimize these conflicts and allow the Annual Meeting to continue to grow. One area of the Annual Meeting that has not grown in recent years is the participation of imaging physicists in scientific sessions. Indeed the number of proffered imaging abstracts declined
to under 100 for the Salt Lake City Meeting. The Ad Hoc Committee on Imaging within the AAPM, chaired by Rick Morin, is addressing this issue. This committee has been active for about eight months and will be the subject of articles in coming Newsletters. Finally, March 6 was the deadline for abstract submissions for the Montréal meeting and I hope many of you submitted abstracts, which this year was 100% Web based. I look forward to your presentations in Montréal.
TABLE OF CONTENTS President’s Column Certification Mentoring Undergrads. Chairman’s Report President-Elect’s Rep. Treasurer’s Report Budget Exec. Dir’s. Column Gov’t. Affairs Column RPC Announcement Ragazzoni Memorial Cohen Memorial Announcements Mamm. Accreditation
p. 1 p. 1 p. 4 p. 5 p. 8 p. 9 p. 10 p. 12 p. 14 p. 15 p. 16 p. 16 p. 18 p. 19
Charlie Coffey (2nd row, right) with the team from Siemens Medical Systems - OCS at the AAPM/RSNA Cocktail Reception which they hosted in Chicago last November.
2
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
2
3/4/02, 1:05 PM
■
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
This year attend two AAPM Meetings in one week! Visit AAPM On-line at http://www.aapm.org for program and registration information 44th AAPM Annual Meeting ✱ July 14 - 18, 2002 ✱ Montreal, Quebec Canada ✓ Remember...scientific sessions and exhibit hours now begin on Sunday. ✓ Registration is open on March 15. ✓ Discounted registration fee deadline is May 29. 2002 Summer School Intravascular Brachytherapy & Fluoroscopically-Guided Interventions July 18 - 21, 2002 ✱ Montreal, Quebec Canada ✱ McGill University ✓ Registration is open March 15. ✓ Discounted registration fee deadline is May 29.
Certification (from p. 1) niversary of original certification. All information required to extend certification should be submitted in the final year before expiration of certification. Element 1: Continuing Education Credits A certified medical physicist is expected to engage in lifelong learning in his or her discipline. This learning process includes educational activities such as participation in courses and scientific meetings recognized for continuing education credit by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP). It also includes engagement in other op-
portunities for professional growth, including learning exercises as a student or teacher, publications such as scientific papers, learned treatises, task group reports, voluntary organizations such as the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), and programs and committees of scientific, professional and educational societies related to the physicist’s area of interest. Different levels of credit are granted for these and other learning activities. The individual physicist is responsible for maintaining a cumulative record of continuing education credits. A formatted and password-protected file will be avail-
able soon on the ABR Web site to aid in maintaining the record. Element 2: Self-Evaluation A record of employment, major medical physics responsibilities, and involvement in delivery of medical physics services must be submitted as part of the application for renewal of medical physics certification. A form for compilation of this record will be available soon on the ABR Web site. Element 3: Letters of Attestation Two statements attesting to the physicist’s competence and diligence in meeting responsibilities
3
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
3
3/4/02, 1:05 PM
(See Certification - p.4)
AAPM NEWSLETTER
Certification (from p. 3) must be supplied in the application for certification extension. The statements must come from individuals who are familiar with the physicist’s current contributions. One statement should be provided by a senior ABR-certified medical physicist and the other from a senior ABR-certified physician. A form for submission of these statements will be available soon on the ABR Web site. Element 4: Examinations To receive an extension of certification, the physicist is required to pass three examinations during the ten-year certification period. The examinations will be available in three-year increments beginning in 2004 (i.e., 2004, 2007, 2010), and will target new information in medical physics. The examination will focus on new practical information, and not on basic information on which the physicist was examined during his
MARCH/APRIL 2002
or her original certification. It will include materials such as NCRP, ICRP, International Commission on Radiation Units and AAPM task force reports, new dosimetry and calibration protocols, seminal journal articles, data on emerging imaging modalities, and other information considered essential to the practice of medical physics. This information will be identified on the ABR Web site. Each examination will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions which the candidate can answer on-line. The examination can be taken as often as necessary until the candidate passes. Passage of the examination provides a certificate of completion that can be submitted with the application for renewal of certification. The candidate can take each examination anytime after it has been made available on the ABR Web site. Candidates are encouraged to take the examinations soon after they are available, however, so that the work to extend the certificate is not compressed into
too short a time period before extension is needed. Physicists certified by the American Board of Medical Physics have been issued tenyear time-limited certificates since 1992. ABMP-certified physicists who have requested a Letter of Certification Equivalence from the ABR have received a letter with an expiration date identical to that on the ABMP certificate. These individuals may have this date extended by engaging in the ABR’s Maintenance of Certification program. To obtain an extension of the date of expiration of the letter of equivalence, the physicist should make a request to the ABR at least three months before the expiration date. The American Board of Radiology is committed to assisting medical physicists in fulfilling the expectations of patients and the public for demonstration of continued competence in the prac■ tice of their profession.
Mentoring Undergraduates René J. Smith, Chairman, Regional Organization Committee As all of you know, the AAPM is interested in attracting more young physicists to our profession. One way to get young folks attracted to medical physics is to let them know what we do in our daily practice. The AAPM has a list of about 120 undergraduate physics majors that have shown interest in our field. Charlie Coffey has requested the involvement of the Regional Organization Committee in this task. The idea is to have as many members as possible mentor these students. Bring them to your workplace, take them out to lunch or dinner, spend time with them, and keep up with them. I expect to send regional chapter officers a list of students in their areas; hopefully you can match them with some of your local chapter members.
4
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
4
3/4/02, 1:05 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
Chairman of the Board Report Charles W. Coffey, II Nashville, TN
Action Items from the November 28, 2001, Board of Directors Meeting The winter Board of Directors Meeting was held on November 28, 2001 in Chicago and was led by 2001 Chairman of the Board Ken Hogstrom. The Board received reports from its officers, council chairs, and committees and discussed various issues concerning Association activities occurring in the second half of 2001. The remainder of this report lists and describes the action items discussed and passed by the Board of Directors. The AAPM Board of Directors voted to request to become a sponsor of the American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP). The Board approved the creation of an Ad Hoc AAPM/ACMP Committee whose goal is to investigate the potential for improving the synergism, efficiency, and efficacy of the efforts of the AAPM and ACMP that address professional medical physics issues. The Board voted to affirm the Association’s intent to remain an Academy of Radiology Research member. The Academy of Radiology Research is a multi-organizational effort of the radiology community that was significantly responsible for the congressional legislation that led to
the formation of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) in 2000. In other action, the Board voted to approve 2001 President-Elect Bob Gould’s individual and committee appointments for 2002. The Board authorized the president to write a letter to the Medical Dosimetrist Certification Board (MDCB) supporting the concept of a dosimetrist scope of practice document but raising concerns about the document in its current draft. The Board further voted to refer the Intersociety (AAPM, ABS, ACMP, and ACRO) Standards for Brachytherapy document to a presidentially-appointed ad hoc committee for analysis and recommendation. The Board authorized the president to write a letter to the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) and the American College of Nuclear Physicians (ACNP) stating that the AAPM does not support the recent SNM/ACNP petition to the NRC concerning Part 35 as it is presently written. This letter would recognize that the SNM/
ACNP petition includes some valid points, and that the AAPM would reserve the right to comment on this issue in the future. The Board approved the motion that the AAPM establish criteria for endorsement of documents including: 1. documents jointly written with other societies, 2. documents written solely by other organizations and presented to the AAPM for endorsement, and 3. criteria based upon recommendations of the Educational, Professional, and Science Councils. Further, the Board referred the above matter concerning endorsement of documents to EXCOM for resolution. The Board voted to approve the 2002 AAPM Budget as submitted by the Finance Committee. The Board approved a motion that a membership dues increase be considered at the Annual Business Meeting in 2002. The suggested dues increase for a Full Member of the Association would be as follows: $235 (2003), $245 (2004), $255 (2005), $270 (2006), and $285 (2007). Other membership categories would include similar dues increase increments. The Board authorized the executive director and the treasurer to establish a line of credit with the Bank of America in the amount of $500,000. In other action, the Board approved the selection of Houston, Texas, as host city for the 2008
5
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
5
3/4/02, 1:05 PM
(See Coffey - p. 6)
AAPM NEWSLETTER
Coffey
(from p. 5)
Annual Meeting. The Board authorized the creation of a Members’ Memorial Fund. The purpose of this fund is to receive donations in honor of past or present AAPM members, especially at the time of their death. The fund will be administered by the Development Committee and is to be used for specific purposes stated by the donor (if any) or to promote education of AAPM members and students, research, or such other purposes deemed appropriate by the Development Committee. The Board approved the recommendation of the Journal Business Management Committee to reappoint Colin Orton as the editor of Medical Physics for one more term beginning in 2003. The Board voted to approve Rules and By-Laws changes that
MARCH/APRIL 2002
would allow for the creation of a Meeting Coordination Committee. (This committee would replace the present Annual Meeting Coordination Committee and the Program Committee. The new committee would integrate all significant groups/entities in the planning and coordination of future annual meetings). Further, the Board voted to approve Rules and By-Laws changes that would allow Board of Directors electronic voting and for AAPM members to vote electronically in the yearly balloting for officers and Board Members-at-Large. The Board voted to alter the Rules to include a change in membership reinstatement fees from $25 to $50. The Board approved the motion to change the By-Laws to require that a minimum of 50 Full or Emeritus Members must petition the Regional Organization Committee for permission to
form a regional chapter. Furthermore, a regional chapter must maintain a minimum of 15 Full or Emeritus members to continue its affiliation. The Board also approved the motion to drop the reference to junior chapters from the Association’s By-Laws. (Note: All changes in By-Laws must be approved by the AAPM membership.) In executive session, the Board approved bonuses for the AAPM HQ staff and AAPM executive director for 2001. Additionally, the Board voted to approve corporate affiliate membership to Source Tech Medical and Tomotherapy, Inc. On January 31, 2002, in its initial electronic voting action, the Board voted to endorse the Joint Publication on Coronary Artery Radiation Therapy (CART)/Vascular ■ Brachytherapy (VBT).
“I believe, invincibly, that science and peace will triumph over ignorance and war, that nations will unite, not to destroy, but to build, and that the future will belong to those who have done most for suffering humanity.” –Louis Pasteur
6
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
6
3/4/02, 1:05 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
MAX 4000 Electrometer
Intuitive Interface Easy to use, no complicated set up required
Easily Portable Lightweight with a small foot print
Large easy to see display EXRADIN Microchambers for IMRT
Excellent sensitivity
Small volume, excellent spatial resolution
0.001 pA to 195.00 nA
Model 14 Microchamber, 0.009 cc
0.01 pC to 9999.999 nC
Model 14SL Slim-Line Microchamber, 0.009 cc
TM
www.standardimaging.com 7601 Murphy Drive ■ Middleton, WI 53562-2532 U.S.A. ■ Tel (608) 831-0025 ■ (800) 261-4446 ■ Fax (608) 831-2202
7
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
7
3/4/02, 1:05 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
President-Elect Report Martin S. Weinhous Cleveland, Ohio
Getting Started In this, my first column as president-elect, I’m going to take the liberty of briefly discussing personal as well as Association business. In late March 2001, then President Coffey called me on behalf of the Nominating Committee to ask if I would accept its nomination for president-elect. I was surprised and honored but… about six weeks earlier my wife, Pamela Duncan, had emergency surgery and was diagnosed as having stage IV colon cancer. I told her of the offered nomination and also told her that I was prepared to decline. Her response was typical of her approach to living; she emphatically said, “Don’t you dare turn it down; don’t let this disease affect our lives any more than necessary.” Pamela passed away on February 18th. Because of Pamela’s very strong support and encouragement, my tenure as an AAPM officer is dedicated to her. Now, for two items of Association business… Item 1: A call for volunteers for 2003 committee and other appointments is going to the membership in the March mailing. Committee chairs’ opinions will very significantly influence my appointments. So, to those members interested in serving, it is
imperative that you get to know the chairs of the committee(s) in which you are interested. You will be much more likely to be appointed if you already have the chairperson’s support. Item 2: I see three related problems facing the Association. They are described here so that members can react and provide feedback. The three problems are… (1) Many of our regional chapters are weak and have little selfidentification for their members, perhaps due to the large and disparate geographic areas included in some chapter boundaries. (2) The AAPM is generally not effective at the state level. State officials rarely look to the AAPM for scientific advice on matters effecting their populations. State regulators rarely look to the AAPM for advice in writing or revising regulations. The AAPM has no entry, as an organization, to the elected state or stateelected federal officials. We presently petition them inefficiently as individuals. And (3) the AAPM’s governance structure, particularly the overly-large Board, is cumbersome. Further, the size of the Board automatically increases with the addition of chapters. I believe that the first two problems can be resolved by following the ACR model and having AAPM state chapters. This change will likely strengthen the new single-state chapters by increasing membership and participation. The state chapters would have the opportunity to effectively
interact as “native” organizations without the baggage of multistate names and missions. State chapters would allow easier access to state-level executives, senators, representatives, and appointees. AAPM state chapters could also more easily have access to a state’s federal-level senators and representatives. This would mesh nicely with AAPM’s increasing activities in national government affairs. But, this change to state rather than regional chapters would automatically increase the size of the AAPM Board to 67 members, which is not a tenable situation. To investigate these issues and to perhaps propose solutions, President Gould has agreed to appoint me as the chair of an Ad Hoc Governance Committee. Any proposal(s) from this committee would go, as appropriate and as required by our Rules and By-Laws, to ExCom, the Board, and the membership for approval. Members’ feedback on these issues is requested. Please send your comments and suggestions to the single-purpose address gov@aapm.org. ■
8
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
8
3/4/02, 1:05 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
Treasurer’s Report 2002 Program Budget Melissa Martin Bellflower, CA At the November 28, 2001 Board of Directors Meeting, the proposed operating cash budget of $4,776,796 for the year 2002 was approved as detailed on the following pages. Although the approved budget shows a negative balance of $383,386, this figure should be considered as a worst-case scenario. History shows that in previous years our organization has not spent all of the approved amounts in some of the budget areas resulting in a very close to break-even budget. It is currently anticipated that the results of the 2001 operating budget will be within $10,000 of breaking even following an approved deficit of up to $392,087. For the past several years we have operated at approximately 90% of the budgeted amount due to funding requested for activities that do not actually get completed in the time frame anticipated. Based on this analysis, the approved budget for 2002 is consistent with these operations. We will not be returning anything to our invested reserves in the 2001 year for the second consecutive year. Our budgeting process is getting more accurate with each year, which results in less revenue to return to the reserves. Details of the anticipated activities are given in the following budget spreadsheet. There is no increased staff at Headquarters in
the 2002 budget, although there are increasing requests for project assistance. Priorities are being established for each request while keeping in mind those activities discussed at the Long Range Planning Meeting and the development of the Strategic Plan for the organization. Due to losses in the stock market, our invested reserves are valued at $3,870,737.77 at the end of calendar year 2001 with the Education Fund having a value of $995,128.85. The change in market value for the invested reserves in 2001 was $382,099.82 while the Education Fund lost $100,768.69. We are currently not meeting the target of having one year’s operating budget in reserve. Due to efficient operations at our Headquarters and the fiscal responsibility exhibited by our members, we have not transferred anything out of reserves to cover operations to date. One of the actions approved at the November 2001 Board Meeting was the establishment of a credit line that will allow us to operate as necessary with short-term
credit and not transfer money from our reserves. Our significant sources of revenue to our organization are the Annual Meeting, the Medical Physics Journal, dues, and the Placement Service. Other sources of income are from additional educational activities such as the Summer School and RDCE activities and other publications. We are exploring additional sources of revenue at this time, in addition to the dues increase approved by the Board at the November 2001 meeting. The need for this dues increase will be discussed at the next Annual Business Meeting in Montréal and will be voted on at that time by the membership. Our Medical Physics Journal continues to do exceptionally well in advertising and library subscriptions. The support in our publication efforts by the American Institute of Physics is very advantageous for both of our organizations and is greatly appreciated by the AAPM. The other extremely valuable source of our income is from our commercial exhibitors at our Annual Meeting. All of our members are encouraged to support our vendors and to express our appreciation to them for their invaluable support of our Annual Meeting. We continue to be a very active and involved organization. The many hours of time contributed by our members makes us strong
9
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
9
3/4/02, 1:05 PM
(See Treasurer - p. 12)
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
AAPM 2002 Programmatic Budget
10
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
10
3/4/02, 1:05 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
AAPM 2002 Programmatic Budget
11
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
11
3/4/02, 1:06 PM
MARCH/APRIL 2002
AAPM NEWSLETTER
Treasurer
(from p. 9)
and influential. The continued fiscal responsibility exhibited by all of us makes the organization successful. I would like to extend my appreciation to the terrific support staff that we have at our Headquarters. Without them our members could not achieve our goals. The services we have come to depend on from Headquarters make all of our work possible within our fiscal constraints. We have developed a plan including the dues increases to keep our organization on a sound financial basis, provide requested services from our members, and return enough to the reserves to achieve the targeted one year’s operating budget in reserve. You are encouraged to attend the next Annual Business Meeting in Montréal. ■
MARCH/APRIL 2002
Executive Director’s Column Sal Trofi College Park, MD
2002 AAPM Annual Meeting and Summer School Visit AAPM On-Line to view up-to-the-minute information on the 44th AAPM Annual Meeting and the 2002 Summer School. Both events will be held in July in Montréal, Québec Canada. The Annual Meeting will be held July 14–18 at the Palais des Congres de Montreal. The Summer School, a dual track focused on Intravascular Brachytherapy and Fluoroscopically-Guided Interventions, will be held July 18–21. The Annual Meeting will open on Sunday morning at 8:00 AM with the Education Council Symposium, followed by the Professional Council Symposium and the Young Investigators Symposium. The technical exhibits will open at 1:00 PM with a complimentary light lunch in the hall. The poster sessions are also scheduled on Sunday afternoon. Plan to arrive by Sunday to take advantage of the extra time to meet with the exhibiting companies and to participate in the symposia and poster sessions. Annual Meeting sessions are slated through Thursday at noon, with the Summer School sessions beginning at 1:00 PM at the Palais. The Summer School will move to McGill University for the remainder of the school. Register by May 29 to
receive discounted registration fees for both events.
Membership and Internet The initial dues renewal process was paperless this year for all members with an e-mail address. Members were given the option of paying via the Web or downloading their invoice and paying via mail. Those not paying by January 10 received the traditional paper invoice via regular mail. This experiment was a great success in that more than 50% of the members paid dues via the Web. This resulted in a substantial reduction in notification and processing costs. The total of all categories of membership as of December 31, 2001 was 4,746. This represents a 2.5% increase in membership in 2001. The increase in the Full Member category was 3%. We have made an effort to obtain e-mail and home addresses of all members to update our database. I am glad to report that
12
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
12
3/4/02, 1:06 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
we now have good e-mail addresses for 95% of all members. We have made great progress in obtaining home addresses. We now have 55%, but will continue to strive for more. Home addresses are very important for our government affairs effort so that we can alert you to any pending legislation that may affect your profession. There are two other interesting statistics; 20% of the members have addresses from outside the United States, and about 60% of all members have made a change to their database information during 2002.
increase at a record pace during the 2001-year. The first two months of 2002 indicate that this trend is continuing because we already have about 16% more job offerings for the same period last year. Bob Rice, Placement Service Director, plans to give up this position at the end of 2002 after six years of serving in this capacity. A search for a replacement will take place this spring. Bob is currently working with the AAPM staff to completely automate the entire process before he leaves office.
MARCH/APRIL 2002
ding. Her fiancé’s name is Marcel Lee. They met through friends three years ago. Farhana Khan, our webmistress, was in an auto accident on January 12. She was stopped at a red traffic light and was hit from behind by another auto. She had some back and neck injuries, but is recovering. Her doctor expects that she will have some minor recurring problems from the accident. Her car was deemed a total loss, but the other driver’s insurance company has claimed li■ ability.
Staff News Placement Service Job offerings in the AAPM Placement Bulletin continued to
Angela (Angie) Furcron, our government affairs manager, is planning an April 20, 2002 wed-
13
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
13
3/4/02, 1:06 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
Government Affairs Column Angela L. Furcron College Park, MD In late November, the New York Medical Physics Licensure bill was signed into law. Please join me in congratulating New York medical physicists on a job well done. New York is the third state to license medical physicists; the first two states were Florida and Texas. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) has established a working group to evaluate which research grants can be transferred from other National Institutes of Health (NIH) agencies to the NIBIB. The working group is made up of representatives from the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering (AIMBE), the Academy of Radiology Research (ARR) and the NIH. The President has requested an 8.35% budget increase for the NIBIB; this increase does not include the transfer of grants from other NIH agencies. This 8.35% increase translates into $121 million in total funding. I plan to visit regional chapters and attend their meetings to discuss issues of interest. I plan to visit approximately two chapters each year until I have met with all chapters. I hope to start these visits sometime this year. One possible topic will be the Consumer Assurance of Radiologic Excellence (CARE) bill, which requires states to establish a mini-
mum educational standard, along with certification or licensure of people who administer or plan radiologic procedures. This bill strengthens a 1981 law that required states to establish a minimum standard, but did not create a penalty for states that did not comply. Currently only 35 states have complied with the law; 15 states and the District of Columbia have not. There is more information on the CARE bill on the AAPM Web site in the Government Affairs section. I have been meeting monthly by conference call with the ad hoc committee on Government Affairs Coordination. This committee is made up of council and committee chairs to ensure that my day-to-day activities reflect the wide range of interests in the AAPM. We discuss various legislative and regulatory issues that affect medical physicists. I also keep in contact with other government affairs representatives at the ACR and ASTRO. We coordinate efforts as much as possible. The AAPM will hold its second Capitol Hill meeting on April 8,
2002. Members will be briefed on one or two bills before Congress and then have the opportunity to go and meet with their congressperson. Congress returns from Easter recess on April 8, 2002. I anticipate a productive, rewarding meeting again this year. Since September 11, 2001 there has been a lot of talk about terrorism and how various professions can react to or guard against future attacks. I would like to encourage all medical physicists to find out about the disaster plan for their institution. The AAPM Web site has information on this topic. Please refer to the special notices section on the first page of the Web site to find “Responsibilities of the Medical Physicist In the Event of an Incident Involving Radioactive ■ Material.”
14
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
14
3/4/02, 1:06 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
Announcement from the Radiation Protection Committee Ralph P. Lieto Chairman, Radiation Protection Committee The Radiation Protection Committee wishes to inform the AAPM membership of two recently available documents that may be of interest. The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) recently released NCRP Report No. 138, “Management of Terrorist Events Involving Radioactive Material.” The NCRP states, “the new report provides a consensus of existing and proposed recommen-
dations from federal agencies and scientific bodies and is intended as a guide for planning for various kinds of radiation-related events.” Ironically, this report was in its final stages of completion when the September 11 terrorist attacks occurred. Further information on this report can be found at http:// www.ncrp.com/ncrprpts.html. This report may be considered a companion to NCRP Report No. 65, “Management of Persons Accidentally Contaminated with Radionuclides.” Also available is the proceedings of the international confer-
ence on “Radiological Protection of Patients in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy.” The conference was held in Malaga, Spain in March, 2001. It was cosponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, European Commission, Pan American Health Organization, and the World Health Organization. This nearly 600-page document comes with a CD of contributed papers. Ordering information can be found at the ■ Web site - www.iaea.org.
15
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
15
3/4/02, 1:06 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
Memorials Gian Domenico Ragazzoni Jean St. Germaine New York, NY It is with deep regret that the medical and professional staffs of the Department of Medical Physics at the Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center mark the passing of our friend and colleague, Gian Domenico Ragazzoni, on August 26, 2001 in Italy. Gian was a native of Bologna, Italy and retained his love of Italy throughout his life. He was equally able to quote the cantos of Dante and the definitions of physics constants. Gian emigrated to the United States after World War II and worked at the Memorial Hospital with Gioacchino Failla and Edith Quimby. Gian received his
masters degree from Columbia University in the program directed by Edith Quimby. Following these studies, Gian returned to the Memorial Hospital where he assumed dual responsibilities for resident and physics fellow teaching and brachytherapy dosimetry. Gian rose to the rank of Associate Attending Physicist.
From the mid-1960’s until his retirement in the mid-1980’s, Gian trained literally hundreds of physicians and physicists in the branches of radiology and radiological physics. Gian was a gifted teacher and mentor whose genuine concern for his students continued long past residency and fellowship. He followed the careers of these students with paternal pride. Gian had an ebullience of spirit that sprang undiluted from his fundamentally Italian roots. He was an elegant man. His interests varied from philosophy to politics to classics. No one enjoyed parties and people more. We will miss his sparkle, his spirit and his kind■ ness.
Montague Cohen Geoffrey W. Dean, Ervin B. Podgorsak Montréal, QC Canada Monty Cohen, the founding Director of the McGill Medical Physics Unit, passed away on Monday, January 28, 2002. He is mourned by his wife of 54 years, Dolly, three sons: Laurence, Robert and Andrew, and seven grandchildren. Monty was a teacher and counsellor to many medical physicists, radiologists and radiotherapists
across the world but especially in Canada. He was born in London, U.K. and graduated with a
B.Sc. in Physics from Imperial College, London in 1945. In 1958 he was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of London. He began his long and distinguished career in Medical Physics at the London Hospital in 1948. He worked in all aspects of the application of radiation in medicine, especially in Radiation Therapy and Clinical Dosimetry. Monty came to McGill University as professor and director of radiological physics in the Therapeutic Radiology Department. In
16
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
16
3/4/02, 1:06 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
this position Monty supervised a number of people providing clinical physics support in radiotherapy at the Montréal General, Royal Victoria, and Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospitals. He was also actively involved in student technologist teaching in Dawson College. He provided valuable service to the McGill community with his chairmanship of many radiation safety committees. In the last move of his career, Monty moved into full time academia in 1979. He established and became the first director of the McGill Medical Physics Unit. As well as teaching several graduate courses, Monty supervised a number of graduate students. He guided the Medical Physics Unit through the first decade of its existence and retired from formal academic life in 1991. During the past 20 years the McGill’s Medical Physics Unit gained a worldwide reputation for providing excellent education to M.Sc. and Ph.D. students in medical physics. There is no doubt that the successes of the Medical Physics Unit can be largely attributed to Monty, who brought the service to McGill, and to his vision and enthusiasm for teaching of medical physics that are still felt among the current younger ranks of the unit. Monty Cohen will be missed. Our sympathies are extended to Dolly, Laurence, Robert and An■ drew.
Publication in the AAPM Newsletter
Contributions The editor is always looking for contributions to make the AAPM Newsletter more representative of its entire membership. Informational, educational, or inspirational articles, notices about or reports from local meetings, recent social events, comments or suggestions, letters to the editor, and especially images, are welcome. Transmission guidelines and deadline dates are printed on the back page of each Newsletter issue; April 15th marks the next deadline.
Image Requirements “A picture is worth a thousand words” but a blurry image is often worse than no image at all. In order for the images published in the AAPM Newsletter to adequately represent their subject matter, they need to be of a certain resolution. Images should be scanned or taken with a digital camera at a minimum setting of 300 dpi.
17
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
17
MARCH/APRIL 2002
3/4/02, 1:06 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
Announcement Medical Health Physics Meeting Jean St. Germain Past-President, MHP Section, HPS I would like to urge those AAPM members who are members of the Health Physics Society [and those who may not be] to consider attending the 2002 Meeting to be held in Tampa,FL, during the week of June 16, 2002. There will be a number of focus sessions on Medical Health Physics that may be of interest to AAPM members. Among these
sessions will be one entitled, “21st Century – The Century of Medical Science.” The speakers include William Mc Bride, M.D. on the “The Future of Radiation as a Modality in the Era of the Genome,” Jeffrey Kahn, Ph.D. on “Informed Consent in Radiation Research” and Larry Clark on the “National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering – Implications for Imaging Technology.” Another session of general interest will be the plenary session featuring Lee Rogers,
M.D., speaking on “Radiation Safety, Serious Business,” John Boice, Sc.D., speaking on “Radiation Risks, A Review of What We Know” and Robert Brent, M.D. speaking on “The Reproductive Risks of Ionizing Radiation: Controversies Resolved and Yet to Be Resolved.” Other sessions will address medical shielding issues and issues of special concern to women. Details of the meeting can be found on the HPS Web site, www.hps.org. We hope to see many of our colleagues there. ■
Southern California Chapter Hosts Midwinter Workshop Steven Goetsch La Jolla, CA
cess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Jeff Yap from the University of Pittsburgh and Bob Bell from Encinitas, CA (and the ACR Commission on Accreditation of MRI). Local chapter members Tim Solberg (incoming president), Anil Sharma (treasurer), and Tim Schultheiss also gave excellent clinical talks. Six hours of CAMPEP accreditation was given and 13 commercial sponsors attended the event. The meeting was well received and will be held again in mid-January, 2003.
The Southern California Chapter hosted a one day workshop on January 18 at Wizardz Magic Club in Universal City Studios titled “The Magic of Physics.” SCC member Ralph Mackintosh, who also performs as a professional magician, emceed the workshop and entertained one and all with amazing feats of magic! Honored guest speakers included AAPM President Bob Gould, Satish Jaywant from Prin-
18
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
18
3/4/02, 1:06 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
ACR Mammography Accreditation Frequently Asked Questions for Medical Physicists Priscilla F. Butler Senior Director, ACR Breast Imaging Accreditation Programs Does you facility need help on applying for mammography accreditation? Do you have a question about the ACR Mammography QC Manual? Check out the ACR’s Web site at www.acr.org; click on the blue bar, “Mammography” and then “Frequently Asked Questions.” In each issue of this newsletter, I’ll present a question of particular importance for medical physicists.
Q.
We will be moving one of our accredited mammography units from an existing site to a new facility we are opening at a different address. (The old site will remain open.) What do we have to do to legally conduct mammography at this new facility?
A.
Your new facility must be certified separately from the old one. Your moved unit’s accreditation does not transfer to the new facility even though it was accredited at the initial site. First, your medical physicist must perform an Equipment Evaluation that indicates compliance with all MQSA requirements. Next, you must apply for mammography accreditation of this unit at the new facility. Upon ac-
ceptance of your application, the ACR will notify your certifying body (either the FDA or the state) that you have begun the process of accreditation. You may not perform mammography until you receive an interim notice from your certifying body. The interim notice is generally faxed to you while a six-month provisional certificate is being printed. It takes about ten working days for the provi-
sional certificate to be sent in the mail. (Note: Beginning April 1, 2002, the FDA will fax new facilities a copy of their six-month provisional certificate instead of an interim notice letter.) Also, be sure to contact your state radiation control agency to determine if they have their own special requirements for operating new equipment that you must meet.
19
02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
19
3/4/02, 1:06 PM
AAPM NEWSLETTER
MARCH/APRIL 2002
AAMP NEWSLETTER EDITOR Allan F. deGuzman MANAGING EDITOR Susan deGuzman
Please send submissions (with pictures when possible) to the editors at: e-mail: deguzman@wfubmc.edu (336)773-0537 Phone (336)716-7837 Fax 2340 Westover Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27103 The AAPM Newsletter is printed bi-monthly. Next Issue: May/June 2002 Postmark Date: May 15 Deadline: April 15, 2002
Editorial Board Arthur Boyer Nicholas Detorie Kenneth Ekstrand Geoffrey Ibbott C. Clifton Ling Richard Morin
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICISTS IN MEDICINE
One Physics Ellipse College Park, Maryland 20740-3846 (301)209-3350 Phone (301)209-0862 Fax e-mail: aapm@aapm.org http://www.aapm.org
20 1 02_26132_MarApr_cx5.p65
20
3/4/02, 1:06 PM