ABR NewsGeoffrey Ibbott, PhD, ABR Board of Governors, Jerry Allison, PhD, J. Anthony Seibert, PhD, and
Matthew B. Podgorsak, PhD, FAAPM, ABR Trustees

Seventy Years: ABR Certification of Medical Physicists

2017 marks the 70th anniversary of certification of medical physicists by the American Board of Radiology (ABR).

The first certifications of medical physicists occurred in December 1934 under the auspices of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). An examining board was formed, including Robert Newell and Otto Glasser, with Gioacchino Failla as chair. Seventeen radiation physicists were certified and subsequently served as an examining board. RSNA adopted a proposal that any member of the board could examine an applicant and submit a report on the examination to the other board members for approval. Lauriston Taylor was on the board and kept the correspondence and records at the National Bureau of Standards.

The ABR first considered certification of physicists in 1941, but a motion "to express willingness to entertain a proposal to certify physicists in radiology" was defeated by the ABR Board. In November 1946, the ABR Credentials Committee recommended that the ABR supervise and sponsor the certification of radiation physicists. An Ad Hoc Committee (Usrus Portmann, Edwin Ernst, and Ross Golden) met with the RSNA physics group to discuss details of physicist certification. The Ad Hoc Committee reported, "Physicists consulted by your committee were unanimously of the opinion that they would prefer to have the ABR organize a procedure for examination and certification of physicists so that those who pass the examination in physics receive a certificate in radiation physics from the ABR."

In 1947, the first ABR certifications in physics were awarded. Certificates were granted to 20 physicists:

• Paul Abersold (ABR ID No. P0001)
• George Henny
• Karl Stenstrom
• S. Sidhu
• Karl Morgan (ABR ID No. P0002)
• Otto Glasser
• James Marven
• Edith Quimby
• Marvin Williams
• Henrietta Hayden

• Frank Hoecker
• Lillian Jackobsen
• Kenneth Corrigan
• Scott Smith
• S. Reid Warren
• Alvin Hackney
• James Weatherwax
• Carl Braestrup
• Carl Numberger
• Robert Pugh

It appears that in 1947, the first ABR-certified physicists participated in the examination of four additional physicists, who also became board certified in 1947:

• Bird Stephenson
• Herbert Parker
• Francis Chambers
• Leonnidas Marinelli

The following year, 1948, no ABR physics certifications were issued, but in 1949, another notable group of physicists received ABR certification:

• Aaron Yalow
• Rosalyn Yalow
• Hanson Blatz
• Theodore Stopp

ABR physics certifications in 1950 included both Robert Landauer and Jack Krohmer.

One of the earliest ABR-certified physicists was Rosalyn Yalow, who is particularly notable as she became a Nobel Laureate.

Certificates were granted in radiological physics, x-ray and radium physics, and medical nuclear physics. In the absence of formal training programs, the first eligibility requirements for ABR certification in physics included:

• 4 or more years of college
• 2 years of radiation physics study
• A total of 8 years of training and practical experience

The early ABR physics examinations were administered as oral examinations. Oral examination panels in radiation physics included three certified radiation physicists and one ABR physician trustee. In 1957, a written physics examination was designed and scheduled for first use. After consultation with outside experts to determine the difficulties and costs, however, the ABR Board postponed the introduction of a written examination for several years. The first ABR written exam in physics was administered in June 1975. The 78 applicants sought certification in these fields:

• 7 in diagnostic radiologic physics
• 4 in therapeutic and diagnostic physics
• 9 in medical nuclear physics
• 21 in therapeutic radiologic physics
• 37 in radiologic physics (combined diagnostic, medical nuclear, and therapeutic physics)

Forty-five applicants passed the first written exam:

• 7 in diagnostic radiologic physics
• 19 in radiologic physics
• 6 in medical nuclear physics
• 11 in therapeutic radiologic physics
• 2 in therapeutic and diagnostic physics

Among the 45 ABR diplomates who passed the first written examination are some familiar names:

• Jon Trueblood
• James Deye
• James Hevezi
• James Purdy
• Paul Carson

• Charles Wilson
• Robert Phillips
• Lawrence Rothenberg
• Stewart Bushong
• Raymond Rossi

Dr. Jack Krohmer, Chairman of the ABR Physics Credentials Committee, reported to the ABR Board of Trustees that "as a first effort the written exam in physics in June 1975 was a very successful one."

The ABR IDs of the first two ABR-certified physicists were P0001 and P0002 (Abersold and Morgan). As of 2016, the ABR IDs numbers for medical physicists have grown to more than P8500. ABR medical physics diplomates can estimate where they are along the timeline of medical physics certifications by looking at their own ABR ID numbers on the myABR website.

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