New diagnosis for medical physicists

Abstract

Having read the letter from Ann Marks about the need for medical physicists to seek a new image (June p22), I am not clear to what extent she is aware of the uphill struggle medical physicists have already faced in trying to gain adequate recognition. She makes an interesting comparison with anaesthetists, pointing out that it is they -rather than the medical physicists who set up the radiation therapy -whom patients meet when going into hospital for treatment. But anaesthetists are medically qualified, and so have passed the litmus test. Indeed, in the early days of medical physics, some physicists actually obtained a medical qualification to overcome this barrier. About the only time I was summoned to see a patient was when some error had occurred that the radiotherapist thought he might be able to blame on me. (The radiotherapist was invariably a "he" as I remember; women doctors are usually more charitable.)As for Marks's suggestion that medical physicists should change their name, I should point out that medical physicists were until recently called hospital physicists and belonged to the Hospital Physicists Association, which was founded in 1943. The association passed through several mutations, before combining with engineers to become the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. I think medical physicist is a slight improvement on hospital physicist, and I do not think any further change would make an iota of difference. Whether it will make a difference now that doctors have been somewhat forcibly removed from their ivory pedestal (or at least taken down a peg or two) remains to be seen. But I wouldn't hold my breath.