The Profession of Medical Physics
Medical physics is a field of study and practice that applies the facts and principles of physics and engineering to medical practice. It is distinct from biomedical engineering, biophysics and health physics in its focus on patient care. Medical physics is a profession because its practitioners work independently, albeit often as members of a health care team, and we take personal responsibility for the quality of our work.
There are two main specialties within medical physics, therapy and imaging. Therapy is the delivery of ionizing radiation with palliative or curative intent and imaging uses ionizing and nonionizing radiation for diagnostic purposes. some medical physicists practice all aspects of medical physics, but specialization as a therapeutic radiological physicist, diagnostic radiological physicist, medical nuclear physicist or medical health physicist is becoming more typical.
Medical physics requires a solid undergraduate preparation in physics or another technical discipline (for example, nuclear engineering) and graduate study. While many current medical physicists studied pure physics or related engineering subjects at the graduate level, increasingly graduate study in medical physics本身现在是进入该行业的主要途径。医学物理学医学物理和居住计划的研究生课程可能会获得医学物理教育计划认证委员会（CAMPEP）的认证。Campep认证不仅是一项高质量计划，而且还从Campep获得认可的研究生计划和Campep认可的居住计划是由最大的认证委员会认证的先决条件。
医学物理学家们展示他们的准备nd professional competence by achieving certification. The predominant certifying board in the U.S. is the American Board of Radiology, which, along with the American Board of Health Physics and the American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine, administers certification examinations. These examinations typically consist of a written section covering basic medical physics, a second written section focusing on a particular specialty (e.g., therapeutic radiological physics, diagnostic radiological physics, medical nuclear physics, medical health physics, magnetic resonance imaging physics, or molecular imaging), and an oral examination. One may not take the examinations until one has earned appropriate educational credentials and has accumulated satisfactory practical experience through residency.
美国的许多州，其中首先是德克萨斯州，将医学物理学视为一项职业。他们这样做是一种保护公共安全和福利的手段。在德克萨斯州，没有许可证可能不会练习医疗物理。德克萨斯州向正在为其认证考试做准备的医学物理学家颁发临时许可，以获得实际经验，无论是在职培训还是临床物理居留计划。临时被许可人必须在完全许可的医学物理学家的直接监督下练习。拥有全部许可的医学物理学家可以独立实践其许可专业，他们的准备工作由教育，经验和董事会认证证明。
美国的医学物理学家有一个主要专业组织，即美国医学物理学家协会（AAPM）。许多医学社会还欢迎医学物理学家，并在医学物理学家中拥有强大而积极的会员资格。
Medical physicists might practice privately — often consulting for several institutions — or work on a hospital staff or in an academic healthcare institution. We work closely with radiation oncologists, radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, dosimetrists, nurses, a variety of medical technology specialists and hospital administrators. Our work requires strong scientific and technical abilities, clear communication, good people skills and the capability to work carefully, accurately, thoroughly and promptly. People's well-being depends upon the quality of our work.
To learn more about the profession of medical physics, visit
Among the journals that publish the research work of medical physicists are
UTHealth - Houston's Health University
