Improving Health Through Medical Physics
Improving Health Through Medical Physics
The American Board of Radiology (ABR) could not function without a large and diverse group of hard-working volunteers. Presently, there are 526 volunteers, including 108 medical physicists. Physics is an integral part of almost all ABR examinations, and without the many medical physics volunteers, production of the exams would not be possible. ABR volunteers write physics content for exams listed in the following table.
| Medical Physics | Diagnostic Radiology and IR/DR* | Radiation Oncology |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1– Clinical | Core | Physics |
| Part 1 – General | Certifying | |
| Part 2 – DMP | RISE** | |
| Part 2 – NMP | ||
| Part 2 – TMP | ||
| Oral – DMP | ||
| Oral – NMP | ||
| Oral – TMP | ||
| OLA*** – DMP | ||
| OLA*** – NMP | ||
| OLA*** – TMP |
After each question is written, it is reviewed by a group of medical physicists before it is accepted into a pool of available physics questions. This pool of questions is used by another group of ABR volunteers to assemble content for each of the examinations.
We strongly encourage all medical physics diplomates of the ABR to volunteer. In particular, we are actively seeking nuclear medical physicists for various committee assignments. Almost all ABR volunteers begin as question writers for one of the many examinations. The training that question writers receive is valuable for anyone who writes questions for any cognitive examination.
Because we encourage diversity in our volunteers, we welcome medical physicists with either MS or PhD degrees, as well as those from academia or private practice. Please contemplate the needs of the profession and consider volunteering here, where a form is available for you to complete and submit online.
It generally takes a while for the ABR to process a volunteer application. You can help by making sure you include the email addresses of your references and listing your areas of expertise and areas where you would like to help. As the ABR changes from the decennial MOC exam to ABR OLA (Online Longitudinal Assessment), we are seeking additional volunteers to participate in this exciting new activity.
Dr. Podgorsak, who has a therapeutic physics portfolio, has recently become an ABR trustee. He has filled the position previously held by Dr. Michael Herman. We would like to thank Dr. Herman for his innumerable hours of volunteer service to the ABR. Dr. Podgorsak is the chief physicist at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Department of Radiation Therapy, in Buffalo, New York. Like Dr. Herman, he has a long history of volunteer service to the ABR and previously received a Volunteer Service Award. He has served on question-writing committees and also as an oral examiner. Welcome, Dr. Podgorsak!
You are reminded that new question types will be included on the Part 1 and Part 2 exams, which will be given in August. Please consult the ABR website for further details.
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