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Purpose: Women remain underrepresented in medical physics in the United States, and determinants of persisting disparities remain unclear. Here, we performed a detailed investigation of American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) membership trajectories to evaluate trends in Full membership with respect to gender, age, and highest degree., Methods and Materials: Membership data, including gender, date of birth, highest degree, membership type, and years of active membership for 1993 to 2023 were obtained from AAPM. Group 1 included Full members who joined AAPM in 1993 or later. A subset of group 1 including only members who joined and left AAPM since 1993 (former members, group 1 F ) was used to calculate age at membership cessation and duration. Results were compared by gender and highest degree. A Kaplan-Meier analysis was also used to evaluate membership "survival" by age and highest degree., Results: Complete data were available for 6647 current and former Full members (group 1), including 2211 former members (group 1 F ). On average, women became Full members at a significantly younger age than men (34.6 vs 37.5 years of age, P < .001) and ended their memberships (if applicable) at a significantly younger age than men (46.1 vs 50.1 years of age, P < .001). The Kaplan-Meier "survival" analysis showed that for a given age, women were at a significantly greater risk of membership cessation than men, and women with master's degrees had the lowest membership survival of any gender/degree subgroup. When analyzing by membership duration, there was no difference in survival by gender alone. Still, women with PhDs were found to have the greatest membership survival among gender/degree subgroups., Conclusions: Both gender and degree type influenced AAPM membership trajectories. Although we have offered a discussion of possible explanations, qualitative data collected from both continuing and departing AAPM members will be critical in the ongoing journey toward gender parity in the profession of medical physics., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The rapidly changing demographics of the United States workforce include a large number of women and members of minority groups that are currently underrepresented in science and engineering-related education and careers. Recent research indicates that while singular incidents of sexism do exist, gender bias more often affects women in various subtle ways. The effects of stereotype threat and the lack of appropriate mentoring and female role models are samples of the possible factors contributing to performance and longevity for women in math-intensive fields. To address how this issue affects those in radiation protection, the current status of women in the field is reviewed as a progression through the scientific pipeline, from education and employment to positions in scientific bodies and professional recognition, with primary focus on American women and institutions. Racial diversity demographics are reviewed where available. Findings indicate women and minority racial groups are underrepresented in multiple aspects of education, research, and leadership. While gender diversity across the field has not yet reached gender parity, trending indicates that the percentage of women earning degrees in radiation protection has consistently increased over the last four decades. Diversity of racial groups, however, has remained fairly consistent and is well below national averages. Diverse perspectives have been documented in collective problem-solving to lead to more innovative solutions.

Although the participation of women within the science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforces has been widely discussed over recent decades, the recording and analysis of data pertaining to the gender balance of medical physicists in Australia and New Zealand remains rare. This study aimed to provide a baseline for evaluating future changes in workforce demographics by quantifying the current level of representation of women in the Australasian medical physics workforce and providing an indication of the relative contribution made by those women to the local research environment. The 2015 Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM) member directory and list of chief physicists at ACPSEM-accredited radiation oncology and diagnostic imaging training centres were interrogated to identify the gender balance of medical physicists working in Australia and New Zealand. A specific investigation of the employment levels of all medical physicists in Queensland was undertaken to provide an example of the gender balance at different levels of seniority in one large Australian state. Lists of authors of medical physics presentations at ACPSEM annual conferences and authors of publications in the ACPSEM's official journal, were used to provide an indication of the gender balance in published research within Australia and New Zealand. The results of this study showed that women currently constitute approximately 28 % of the medical physics workforce in Australia and New Zealand, distributed disproportionally in junior roles; there is a decrease in female participation in the field with increasing levels of seniority, which is particularly apparent in the stratified data obtained for the Queensland workforce. Comparisons with older data suggest that this situation has changed little since 2008. Examination of ACPSEM conference presentations suggested that there are similar disparities between the gender-balance of proffered and invited or keynote speakers (28 % and 13 % from female authors) and the gender balance of certified and chief physicists (28 % and 21 % female). The representation of women in the ACPSEM journal does not differ substantially between authorship of proffered versus invited work (22 % and 19 % from female authors). While this work was limited to evaluating the membership, annual conference and official journal of the ACPSEM (rather than evaluating the entire medical physics workforce and the contributions of male and female physicists to international conferences and publications), this study nonetheless led to the following recommendations: that a longitudinal study analysing correlations between age, period of service, seniority and gender should be undertaken and that future ACPSEM workforce surveys should include analyses of gender representation.

The medical physics profession is undergoing significant changes. Starting in 2014, candidates registering for certification exams by the American Board of Radiology must have completed a CAMPEP-accredited residency. This requirement, along with tightened state regulations, uncertainty in future reimbursement, and a stronger emphasis on board certification, have raised questions concerning the state of the medical physics workforce and its ability to adapt to changing requirements. In 2012, ASTRO conducted a workforce study of the comprehensive field of radiation oncology. This article reviews the findings of the medical physics section of the study, including age and gender distribution, educational background, workload, and primary work setting. We also report on job satisfaction, the perceived supply and demand of medical physicists, and the medical physicists' main concerns pertaining to patient safety and quality assurance.

Objective: Developments in radiation oncology in recent years have highlighted the increasing deployment of personnel resources for tasks not directly related to patients. These tasks include patient-related activities such as treatment planning, reviewing files, and administrative duties (e.g., invoicing for services, documentation). The aim of the present study, part of the QUIRO project of the German Society of Radiation Oncology (DEGRO), was to describe, on the basis of valid data, the deployment of personnel resources in radiation oncology centers for "overhead" tasks., Methods: Questionnaires were used to analyze the percentages of time needed for various tasks. The target group comprised physicians, medical physics experts (MPE), and medical technical radiology assistants (MTRA). A total of 760 personnel from 65 radio-oncology centers in the German inpatient and outpatient sector participated (32 % physicians, 23 % MPE, and 45 % MTRA)., Results: High percentages of overhead tasks during working time were measured for each of the three personnel groups considered (physicians, MPE, and MTRA). Patient-related efficiency, i.e., the percentage of working time associated directly or indirectly with the patient, was highest among MTRA and lowest among MPE. Particular features could be seen in the activity profiles of personnel in university clinics. Duties in the areas of research and teaching resulted in a greater percentage of overhead tasks for physicians and MPE. Irrespective of function (physician, MPE, or MTRA), a managerial role resulted in lower patient-related efficiency, as well as a narrower time budget for direct patient care compared with non-managerial employees., Conclusion: Using the data gathered, it was possible to systematically investigate the time required for overhead tasks in radio-oncological centers. Overall, relatively high time requirements for a variety of overhead tasks were measured. These time requirements, generated for example by administrative duties or research and teaching, are currently not taken into adequate consideration in terms of remuneration or personnel capacity planning.

Rationale and Objectives: To investigate residents' knowledge of adverse effects of ionizing radiation, frequency of their education on radiation safety, and their use of radioprotective equipment., Materials and Methods: Residents from 15/16 residency programs at Emory University were asked to complete a resident radiation safety survey through SurveyMonkey(®). The associations between the residents' knowledge and use of radioprotective equipment with residents' specialty and year of training were investigated., Results: Response rate was 32.5% (173/532 residents). Thirty-nine percent residents reported radiation safety is discussed in their residency curriculum at least every 6 months. Ninety-five percent believed in a link between radiation exposure and development of cancer. Overall and Radiology residents' knowledge about specific estimated dose effects (correct responses) was limited: radiation dose associated with fetus brain malformation in pregnancy (10% vs. 26%), risk of developing cataract in interventional personnel (27% vs. 47%), lifetime risk of cancer mortality from a single abdominal computed tomography (CT) in children (22% vs. 29%), greater radiosensitivity of children compared to adults (35% vs. 50%), and relative radiation dose from an abdominal CT compared to a chest x-ray (51% vs. 48%). Radiology residents had modestly higher knowledge. There was no significant difference in residents' knowledge across their postgraduate training years. Use of lead thyroid shields was reported by 86% (97% radiology vs. 80% nonradiology; P = .03) and radiation-monitoring badges in 39% (68% radiology vs. 15% nonradiology; P < .001) of the residents., Conclusions: Although radiology residents scored higher, knowledge of radiation safety for patients and healthcare workers is limited among residents regardless of medical specialty. These findings emphasize the need for educational initiatives., (Copyright © 2014 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A survey of the medical physics and biomedical engineering workforce in Australia and New Zealand was carried out in 2012 following on from similar surveys in 2009 and 2006. 761 positions (equivalent to 736 equivalent full time (EFT) positions) were captured by the survey. Of these, 428 EFT were in radiation oncology physics, 63 EFT were in radiology physics, 49 EFT were in nuclear medicine physics, 150 EFT were in biomedical engineering and 46 EFT were attributed to other activities. The survey reviewed the experience profile, the salary levels and the number of vacant positions in the workforce for the different disciplines in each Australian state and in New Zealand. Analysis of the data shows the changes to the workforce over the preceding 6 years and identifies shortfalls in the workforce.

Continuing professional development (CPD) and continuing professional education (CPE) are seen as being necessary for medical physicists to ensure that they are up-to-date with current clinical practice. CPD is more than just continuing professional education, but can include research publication, working group contribution, thesis examination and many other activities. A systematic way of assessing and recording such activities that a medical physicist undertakes is used in a number of countries. This can be used for certification and licensing renewal purposes. Such systems are used in 27 countries, but they should be implemented in all countries where clinical medical physicists are employed. A survey of the CPD systems that are currently operated around the world is presented. In general they are quite similar although there are a few countries that have CPD systems that differ significantly from the others in many respects. Generally they ensure that medical physicists are kept up-to-date, although there are some that clearly will fail to achieve that. An analysis of what is required to construct a useful medical physics CPD system is made. Finally, the need for medical physicist professional organizations to cooperate and share in the production and distribution of CPD and CPE materials is emphasized., (Copyright © 2012 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: RATIONALE AND OBJECTS: We describe a new web-based physics course for radiology residents preparing for the Exam of the Future (EOF)., Materials and Methods: A course was developed with a total of 12 web-based modules. Six modules were focused on "imaging" and six on "radiation." A module was subdivided into nine short "nuggets." Traditional lectures were replaced by modules using prerecorded lectures (Tegrity) to a secure website (WebCT). Each module was accompanied by three quizzes, each consisting of ten questions designed to reinforce covered materials. All online modules were accompanied by a noon conference that employed an Audience Response System (Turning Point). Seventeen first-year residents over 2 consecutive years beginning in July 2010 took this new course, and participated in an anonymous online follow-up survey (Survey Monkey)., Results: The recorded 12 modules had an overall average duration of 72 ± 19 minutes. Ten of 17 residents expressed a preference of 15 minutes for nugget duration. Highest personal assessment scores of each resident's understanding were obtained in human radiation risks and radiation protection. Residents considered supplemental noon conferences to be important for learning radiological physics. Satisfaction level was largely positive, with five residents highly satisfied, nine residents somewhat satisfied, two residents neutral, and only one resident somewhat dissatisfied., Conclusions: Our Foundations of Radiological Physics course was well received and served as the springboard for mastering x-ray-based imaging modalities of radiography, mammography, fluoroscopy, interventional radiology, and computed tomography., (Copyright © 2013 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Sandia National Laboratories' Z-Machine is the world's most powerful electrical device, and experiments have been conducted that make it the world's most powerful radiation source. Because Z-Machine is used for research, an assortment of materials can be placed into the machine; these materials can be subjected to a range of nuclear reactions, producing an assortment of activation products. A methodology was developed to provide a systematic approach to evaluate different materials to be introduced into the machine as wire arrays. This methodology is based on experiment specific characteristics, physical characteristics of specific radionuclides, and experience with Z-Machine. This provides a starting point for bounding calculations of radionuclide source-term that can be used for work planning, development of work controls, and evaluating materials for introduction into the machine.

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) sponsors two summer undergraduate research programs to attract top performing undergraduate students into graduate studies in medical physics: the Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program (SUFP) and the Minority Undergraduate Summer Experience (MUSE). Undergraduate research experience (URE) is an effective tool to encourage students to pursue graduate degrees. The SUFP and MUSE are the only medical physics URE programs. From 2001 to 2012, 148 fellowships have been awarded and a total of $608,000 has been dispersed to fellows. This paper reports on the history, participation, and status of the programs. A review of surveys of past fellows is presented. Overall, the fellows and mentors are very satisfied with the program. The efficacy of the programs is assessed by four metrics: entry into a medical physics graduate program, board certification, publications, and AAPM involvement. Sixty-five percent of past fellow respondents decided to pursue a graduate degree in medical physics as a result of their participation in the program. Seventy percent of respondents are currently involved in some educational or professional aspect of medical physics. Suggestions for future enhancements to better track and maintain contact with past fellows, expand funding sources, and potentially combine the programs are presented.

Purpose: In light of concerns regarding the quality of radiation treatment delivery, we surveyed the practice of quality assurance peer review chart rounds at American academic institutions., Methods and Materials: An anonymous web-based survey was sent to the chief resident of each institution across the United States., Results: The response rate was 80% (57/71). The median amount of time spent per patient was 2.7 minutes (range, 0.6-14.4). The mean attendance by senior physicians and residents was 73% and 93%, respectively. A physicist was consistently present at peer review rounds in 66% of departments. There was a close association between attendance by senior physicians and departmental organization: in departments with protected time policies, good attendance was 81% vs. 31% without protected time (p = 0.001), and in departments that documented attendance, attending presence was 69% vs. 29% in departments without documentation (p < 0.05). More than 80% of institutions peer review all external beam therapy courses; however, rates were much lower for other modalities (radiosurgery 58%, brachytherapy 40%-47%). Patient history, chart documentation, and dose prescription were always peer reviewed in >75% of institutions, whereas dosimetric details (beams, wedges), isodose coverage, intensity-modulated radiation therapy constraints, and dose-volume histograms were always peer reviewed in 63%, 59%, 42%, and 50% of cases, respectively. Chart rounds led to both minor (defined as a small multileaf collimator change/repeated port film) and major (change to dose prescription or replan with dosimetry) treatment changes. Whereas at the majority of institutions changes were rare (<10% of cases), 39% and 11% of institutions reported that minor and major changes, respectively, were made to more than 10% of cases., Conclusion: The implementation of peer review chart rounds seems inconsistent across American academic institutions. Brachytherapy and radiosurgical procedures are rarely reviewed. Attendance by senior physicians is variable, but it improves when scheduling clashes are avoided. The potential effect of a more thorough quality assurance peer review on patient outcomes is not known., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the quality of medical physics education for radiation oncology medical residents., Methods: An independent survey regarding physics education was carried out using e-mail. The survey contained 12 questions addressing the duration, length, and quality of education. Responses were tabulated and compared with the recommended educational scheme., Results: Nearly 56% of institutions participated in this survey. Educational patterns were found to be significantly variable among institutions. Some have minimum physics education (10 lectures), and some have 90 lectures per year. In general, two-thirds of the institutions require residents to attend classes up to the third year., Conclusions: Significant variability of physics education for radiation oncology medical residents was observed, contrary to the national recommendations. With advanced treatment techniques, physics education should be given more importance, and the number of lectures should be increased to accommodate every aspect of radiation oncology practice., (Copyright © 2012 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background and Purpose: Tight budgets and increasing competition for research funding pose challenges for highly specialized medical disciplines such as radiation oncology. Therefore, a systematic review was performed of successfully completed research that had a high impact on clinical practice. These data might be helpful when preparing new projects., Methods: Different measures of impact, visibility, and quality of published research are available, each with its own pros and cons. For this study, the article citation rate was chosen (minimum 15 citations per year on average). Highly cited German contributions to the fields of radiation oncology, biology, and physics (published between 1990 and 2010) were identified from the Scopus database., Results: Between 1990 and 2010, 106 articles published in 44 scientific journals met the citation requirement. The median average of yearly citations was 21 (maximum 167, minimum 15). All articles with ≥ 40 citations per year were published between 2003 and 2009, consistent with the assumption that the citation rate gradually increases for up to 2 years after publication. Most citations per year were recorded for meta-analyses and randomized phase III trials, which typically were performed by collaborative groups., Conclusion: A large variety of clinical radiotherapy, biology, and physics topics achieved high numbers of citations. However, areas such as quality of life and side effects, palliative radiotherapy, and radiotherapy for nonmalignant disorders were underrepresented. Efforts to increase their visibility might be warranted.

The authors have assembled a compilation of exposure rate constants, ƒ-factors, and lead shielding thicknesses for more than 1,100 radionuclides described in ICRP Publication 107. Physical data were taken from well established reference sources for mass-energy absorption coefficients in air, attenuation coefficients, and buildup factors in lead and other variables.The data agreed favorably for the most part with those of other investigators; thus this compilation provides an up-to-date and sizeable database of these data, which are of interest to many for routine calculations. Emissions were also segregated by emitting nuclide, and decay product emissions were emitted from the calculated coefficients, thus for the first time providing for the calculation of exposure rates from arbitrary mixtures of nuclides in arbitrary equilibrium states.

The January 2010 articles in The New York Times generated intense focus on patient safety in radiation treatment, with physics staffing identified frequently as a critical factor for consistent quality assurance. The purpose of this work is to review our experience with medical physics staffing, and to propose a transparent and flexible staffing algorithm for general use. Guided by documented times required per routine procedure, we have developed a robust algorithm to estimate physics staffing needs according to center-specific workload for medical physicists and associated support staff, in a manner we believe is adaptable to an evolving radiotherapy practice. We calculate requirements for each staffing type based on caseload, equipment inventory, quality assurance, educational programs, and administration. Average per-case staffing ratios were also determined for larger-scale human resource planning and used to model staffing needs for Ontario, Canada over the next 10 years. The workload specific algorithm was tested through a survey of Canadian cancer centers. For center-specific human resource planning, we propose a grid of coefficients addressing specific workload factors for each staff group. For larger scale forecasting of human resource requirements, values of 260, 700, 300, 600, 1200, and 2000 treated cases per full-time equivalent (FTE) were determined for medical physicists, physics assistants, dosimetrists, electronics technologists, mechanical technologists, and information technology specialists, respectively.

This is a pilot study that aims to elucidate regional disparities in the distribution of medical resources in Japan. For this purpose, we employed the Gini coefficient (GC) in order to analyze the distribution of radiotherapy resources, which are allocated to each prefecture in Japan depending on the size of its population or physical area. Our study used data obtained from the 2005 and 2007 national surveys on the structure of radiation oncology in Japan, conducted by the Japanese Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (JASTRO). Our analysis showed that the regional disparities regarding the radiation oncologists and radiotherapy technologists were small, and concluded that such resources were almost equitably distributed. However, medical physicists are inequitably distributed. Thus, policymakers should create and implement measures to train and retain medical physicists in areas with limited radiotherapy resources. Further, almost 26% of the secondary medical service areas lacked radiotherapy institutions. We attribute this observation to the existence of tertiary medical service areas, and almost all of prefectures face a shortage of such resources. Therefore, patients' accessibility to these resources in such areas should be improved.

Past computer solutions for confidence intervals in paired counting are extended to the case where the ratio of the sample count time to the blank count time is taken to be an integer, IRR. Previously, confidence intervals have been named Neyman-Pearson confidence intervals; more correctly they should have been named Neyman confidence intervals or simply confidence intervals. The technique utilized mimics a technique used by Pearson and Hartley to tabulate confidence intervals for the expected value of the discrete Poisson and Binomial distributions. The blank count and the contribution of the sample to the gross count are assumed to be Poisson distributed. The expected value of the blank count, in the sample count time, is assumed known. The net count, OC, is taken to be the gross count minus the product of IRR with the blank count. The probability density function (PDF) for the net count can be determined in a straightforward manner.

A survey of the Australasian clinical medical physics and biomedical engineering workforce was carried out in 2009 following on from a similar survey in 2006. 621 positions (equivalent to 575 equivalent full time (EFT) positions) were captured by the survey. Of these 330 EFT were in radiation oncology physics, 45 EFT were in radiology physics, 42 EFT were in nuclear medicine physics, 159 EFT were in biomedical engineering and 29 EFT were attributed to other activities. The survey reviewed the experience profile, the salary levels and the number of vacant positions in the workforce for the different disciplines in each Australian state and in New Zealand. Analysis of the data shows the changes to the workforce over the preceding 3 years and identifies shortfalls in the workforce.

This note discusses the significant impact on effective doses received during commercial flights calculated using the new International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) radiation weighting factors. It also provides an update on adult effective doses given in a previous article in Health Physics when the old ICRP radiation weighting factors were used.

The aim of this work is to present the results of an EFOMP's survey on the status of Education and Training of Medical Physics in Europe. This survey has been undertaken by EFOMP in 2005, to update the document "Policy Statement No. 1", which represents the starting point of the EFOMP recommendations on Education and Training in Medical Physics. Ultimate results have been collected at the end of 2006. To perform the survey, a questionnaire was sent to 34 National Member Organisations (NMOs) for Medical Physics, to collect information on the present state of education and training in each European country. Twenty-five countries participated in the enquiry and responded to it. The most outstanding results are as follows: In all countries, the basic requirement to enter the Medical Physics education is a university degree. The length of this university education ranges from 2 to 5 years. Concerning the Post-graduate education in Medical Physics: A nationally approved educational programme is in operation in 16 of the 25 countries. Postgraduate education takes place essentially within 3 different approaches and the total length of Medical Physics education and training ranges from 2 1/2 years to 9 years. In 14 countries, it is mandatory to hold a diploma or license to work as a Medical Physicist. It allows working in all areas of competence (the most mentioned were Radiotherapy, Nuclear Medicine, Diagnostic Radiology and Radiation Protection) in 14 countries, whereas in 4 countries it allows to work only in 1 or 2 areas. Seventeen countries have a register for Medical Physicists. A formal CPD (Continuing Professional Development) programme is in operation in 13 countries.

In November 2004, the Australian federal government allocated $775,000 to individual Australian radiation oncology medical physicists (ROMPs) to access continuing professional development (CPD) activities. The funding was administered by the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM). In order to receive funding, individuals had to submit an application to ACPSEM, which assessed each application and distributed funds to successful applicants. 248 separate applications were received from 143 individuals in two rounds of applications. Information from the applications was collated and analysed, with the aim of identifying patterns that will be of use in future planning for CPD. This paper presents a summary of the information extracted from the analysis.

A survey of the medical physics and biomedical engineering workforce was carried out in 2006. 495 positions (equivalent to 478 equivalent full time (EFT) positions) were captured by the survey. Of these 268 EFT were in radiation oncology physics, 36 EFT were in radiology physics, 44 were in nuclear medicine physics, 101 EFT were in biomedical engineering and 29 EFT were attributed to other activities. The survey reviewed the experience profile, the salary levels and the number of vacant positions in the workforce for the different disciplines in each Australian state and in New Zealand. Analysis of the data identifies staffing shortfalls in the various disciplines and demonstrates the difficulties that will occur in trying to train sufficient physicists to raise staffing to an acceptable level.

Introduction: In 2003 ESTRO began a project whose primary objective, was to make a map in the European area of infrastructures in technology and personnel for brachytherapy., Material and Method: A survey and a web site were elaborated. The survey was sent to the 76 Spanish Radiation Oncology departments in May 2003., Results: By the end of 2003, 66 (86.8%) services had responded, 40 (71.4%) of which had brachytherapy. The services with brachytherapy treated 73.5% of the total patients, an average of 1,199 patients. The mean number of patients treated with brachytherapy by department was 135.5 and the number of applications was 265 annually. The average number of specialists was 7, 4 of them trained in brachytherapy. The average weekly work load of the radiation oncologists, physicists, and technicians was 22.6 h, 13.8 h and 21.0 h, respectively. The mean time dedicated to each patient by radiation oncologists, physicists and technicians was 9.2 h; 6.19 h; 7.2 h, respectively. The total number of afterloaders was 43 (22 HDR, 18 LDR, 3 PDR). The tumours most frequently treated with brachytherapy were gynaecological (56.24%), breast (14.2%) and prostate (11.7%). High dose rate was used in 47.46% of the patients and low dose rate in 47.24%. Between 1997 and 2002 there was an increase of 50.53% in patients treated with brachytherapy., Conclusions: The survey shows the brachytherapy resources and activity in Spain up to 2003. Increased use of brachytherapy in prostate tumours, prevalence of gynaecology brachytherapy and similar number of treatments with HDR and LDR are demonstrated in the Patterns of Care of Brachytherapy in Europe (PCBE) study in Spain.

In an effort to reveal the possible underlying causes of radiation-related health care complaints in the State of Texas, complaint data were evaluated using historical Texas Department of Health-Bureau of Radiation Control (TDH-BRC) reports. A major aim of the study was to generate a summary of the most commonly reported complaints that might be generalized to health care providers using sources of radiation across Texas. A generalizable list of common complaints would be a valuable tool for education and prevention programs, serving to possibly reduce the overall incidence of radiation-related medical complaints. Descriptive text summary reports of complaints were obtained from the TDH-BRC for the 20-y period inclusive of 1981 to 2001. The information was systematically coded into a computerized database. During the 20-y period of study, 481 health care-related complaints were identified, with approximately 74% consisting of claims of an "uncredentialed technician" (39%), "overexposure" (21%), or "regulatory violation" (14%). The most common categories of complaints imply some patient understanding or knowledge of the credentialing requirements of workers, the applicable dose limits, or the regulatory requirements associated with medical procedures. Since it is unlikely that an average patient would be aware of such issues, the findings suggest the complaints are not actually indications of the inappropriate uses of radiation, but are rather based on the patient's broader perception of services rendered. Most of the complaints levied during the period of study were done so anonymously (58%) and were levied against a generic facility (61%) rather than a specific technician (5%), doctor (4%), or student (1%). Approximately 61% of the complaints resulted in the issuance of a notice of violation upon investigation by the TDH-BRC, but the available data did not permit definitive linkage between the initial complaint and the violation issued. Taken in aggregate, the analysis suggests that improved communications between health care providers and the patients they serve could possibly serve to prevent future complaints. Although the analysis was limited to the data from a single state, the results may be of use to quality assurance programs on a broader scale because of the objective identification of likely common issues. Possible options for improving the means of systematically collecting initial compliant data in the future are also discussed.

Unlabelled: It is increasingly acknowledged that, in addition to prior academic achievement, there is a need to seek evidence for the abilities and personal qualities of applicants to health professional programs at a university. The aim of this study was to determine the specific abilities and personal qualities required for excellence in practice in the relevant professional domains of medical radiation science (MRS)., Methods: A focus group, consisting of MRS academic staff, developed a questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to senior MRS practitioners throughout Australia and 213 were returned for analysis. Respondents were asked to rate 40 specific abilities and qualities (referred to as "elements") on a 5-point scale., Results: Two hundred thirteen completed questionnaires were returned, a 53% response rate. One hundred twelve respondents (52%) indicated they currently worked in diagnostic radiography (DR), 57 (27%) worked in radiation therapy (RT), and 44 (21%) worked in nuclear medicine (NM). The duration (mean +/- SD) of the respondents' professional practice in MRS was 14.5 +/- 10 y, with durations ranging from 1 to 43 y. Raw scores and mean scores were examined for any influence of the variable "Number of Years in Practice.", Discussion: No major differences were found between the ratings provided by the practitioners from the 3 different MRS professional domains of NM, RT, and DR. Factor analysis indicated the existence of 3 orthogonal factors in the questionnaire data: (a) treat others professionally and ethically, (b) engage with and be open to others, and (c) problem-solving ability. Qualitative analysis of the respondents' comments provided similar themes: (a) the need for professional competence (knowledge and abilities), (b) ethical behavior, (c) the need for a technology and a people orientation, and (d) MRS should be the first choice of MRS students and not a second choice to other professional degrees., Conclusion: Senior medical radiation scientists identified professionalism, ethical behavior, engagement with and openness to others, intrinsic specific motivation, and an orientation to people and technology as nonacademic qualities required for excellence in the practice of the professions embraced by MRS.

The University of Michigan Student Health Physics Society's (UMSHPS) Radiation and Health Physics World Wide Web Site is an informative database of radiation and health physics related topics. With over 1,000 visitors each day, the UMSHPS web site provides professionals and the general public with a valuable resource for information and research. Users of this site can either search for information by topic or submit questions directly to the qualified members the national Health Physics Society. During the past year, progress has been made in replacing the site's older, less versatile framework with new search engines and refined submittal forms, as well as a "Frequently Asked Questions" section. Within the database, references will include brief summaries of the site's available information and target audience. Although these changes have been beneficial for the site, the UMSHPS continuously seeks professional opinions and ideas to further the services that this online resource can provide to the profession and to the general public.

Guidelines for the provision of physics support to nuclear medicine were published in 1999 by a joint working group of the British Institute of Radiology, the British Nuclear Medicine Society, and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. Following publication of the guidelines, a survey was conducted by the working group to gather data on the actual level of physicist support in UK hospitals of different types and on the activities undertaken by physicists. The data were collected in the 12 months following the publication of guidelines and cover different hospital models and seven UK regions. The results provide evidence that many of the smaller units - small teaching hospitals and, particularly, small district general hospitals - have insufficient physics support. Although, on average, there is good agreement between the guidelines and the survey data for medium and large district general hospitals, there is wide variation in the level of physics provision between hospitals delivering apparently similar services. This emphasizes the need for national guidelines, against which institutions may be bench-marked and which may be used as a recommendation for the staffing levels necessary to ensure services are delivered safely and standards are not compromised. The complexity and variety of workload is an important factor in determining the level of physics support. As services develop, it is vital that this aspect is recognized to ensure that appropriate resources are available for the required physics input, even if any new service represents only a modest clinical throughput in terms of patient numbers.

A new approach to defining and calculating accuracy and uncertainty in external dosimetry is described. It is more comprehensive and mathematically rigorous than other approaches currently in use, while at the same time being practical to implement. The type testing required to demonstrate the performance of a dosimeter is described, and an example of the calculation of accuracy and uncertainty is given. The paper concludes with some recommendations concerning performance testing and independent testing.

Methods and Results: Using a questionnaire, mean occupation time values for the different medical physics activities were derived in 1992; they formed the basis for recommendations of minimum physics staffing levels in radiotherapy. The recommended staffing levels were compared with the actual staffing levels and to other national and international recommendations.

An effort has been made to evaluate the environmental and social contradictions as applied to radiation health. Consideration was given to the following issues: the principle of stochasticity and uncertainty of delayed radiation effects of low doses in evaluation of liquidators' health; economic approach to determination of radiation risk and radiation protection programme; risks (natural, domestic, technogenic) comparability principle; simulation of the "man-factor-population-external environment" system; regional and ethnic principles in evaluation of radiation risk; gnosiological approach to formation of a positive image of radiation factor, the principle of economic and social protection; evaluation of radiation health with allowance for specificity of pilot work in highly risky conditions.

Scientific text books, journal articles, and all types of other sources of scientific information frequently give certain recommendations and/or make statements of presumed fact concerning the issue of significant digits in scientific computation. Most of these "well-known" facts concerning significance in computation are false. This article discusses the folklore of significant digits, debunks the common cliches, illustrates the actual behavior of computational significance in a typical scenario, and makes recommendations concerning these matters.

In the result of the analysis of irradiation doses of 36,895 servicemen who have participated in liquidation of the Chernobyl APC disaster consequences it was found out that the average radiation dose was 12.1 cSv in 1986, 8.4 cSv in 1987, and in 1988-90 it didn't exceed 5 cSv. The irradiation received by these servicemen has depended on the time of their arrival to the zone of the disaster, the maximum permissible doses of radiation established at that period, the character of their activities and the place of their work, utilization of protection means. A conclusion was made that irradiation dose itself could be considered only as a general guide reference, because it didn't take into consideration internal irradiation and beta-irradiation of skin. That's why it is necessary to continue the further monitoring over the health status of liquidators independently of the doses of irradiation which were fixed in their histories.

With 47% of the population under 15 years of age and the control of infectious and other communicable diseases, cancer will likely constitute a major health problem in West Africa in future. Radiotherapy facilities and trained manpower to run them are very limited within the subregion. This paper quantifies the severity of the situation and discusses a practical approach aimed at coping with the situation through the organisation of a training programme for radiotherapists, medical physicists and radiation technologists as part of the strategies for cancer control in West Africa. A curriculum is proposed for the training of radiotherapists.