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Radiation Physicist or Medical Physicists- 28-Jan-2014
Physics is a branch of science concerned with the study of properties and interactions of space, time, matter and energy. Energy is required in one form or other and is very important for the survival of life on earth and its study attracts lot of attention.
Radiation is also energy and is defined as energy (in the form of light, heat or sound) which travels through any medium or space and ultimately absorbed by another body.
Radiation physics is a branch of Physics which deals with the interaction of the radiation with matter in general and involves calculation of doses for radiation therapy in medical field in particular.
The radiations could be ionizing or non-ionizing depending on the energy carried by the photon. Since the ionizing radiations could be harmful, an important ethical question is the safe extent of exposure of the radiations to humans in the industry, research institutions or for medical diagnostics.
From this very property of radiations to harm the human tissues, it is imperative to have trained personnel in the field who can provide the safety measures and expert handling of all such issues.
One of the mandatory requirement is to have radiation safety officer(RSO) in the organisation to monitor the usage of radiation and to curtail the extent of damage caused in case of any uneventful accident.
Radiation Physicist or Medical Physicist play important role to calculate safe radiation doses in medical treatment with radiations.
Apart from being an alluring career option, Radiation Physicist job also provides a challenging career with an aim of providing safety to the humans engaged in welfare of mankind by making constructive use of radiations.
As there is tremendous scope for research besides application in medical diagnostics, this career option proves to be highly dynamic.
With the increase and better prospects of trained radiation safety personnels, many universities like Osmania University, Anna University, Manipal University, Panjab University etc. have started diploma and degree courses in radiation Physics or medical physics besides the pioneering work done by BARC, Mumbai. Under AERB regulations all medical imaging and radiation therapy machines have to be evaluated by a Qualified Medical Physicist.
Scope of Radiation Physicist and Medical Physicist:
In recent years, there has been a great demand for qualified medical physicists in hospitals, radiotherapy centers and in certain industries / institutes. As per the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) stipulations, qualified medical physicists are must to establish radiotherapy centres / hospitals.
Availability of more people with proper training is urgently required for carrying out the work related to radiation with a proper tab on the safe use of radiations.
Trained radiation physics and medical Physics professional provides radiation safety related advisory services to all medical, industrial, research and agricultural institutions in the country. The training of these professionals is so oriented as to reap maximum advantage of the modern technological developments and at the same time causing minimal harm to the occupational workers and members of the public at large. The industries or the institutions dealing with activities using radiation, need trained manpower on a regular basis. Also, continuous technological changes make it necessary to retrain the personnel working in these institutions and this is provided by short term courses conducted by the BARC, Mumbai.
Role of Radiation Physicist or Medical Physicist:
Medical Physicist: The treatment of patients with radiation involves planning, dosimetry, quality assurance checks to be done meticulously in which the medical physicists play an important role.
A lot of hospitals are coming up with modern radiation therapy facilities in India and there is a definite demand for medical physicists. So the most shot of job for the medical Physcist is in the cancer hospitals. They work shoulder to shoulder alongside super speciality doctors in providing scientific, appropriate treatment to patients.
They are also qualified to serve as Radiological Safety Officers(RSO) in research and industrial institutions handling radioisotopes and ionizing radiations.
Radiation Physicist: Persons with degree / diploma / training on Radiation Physics can work as Radiological Safety Officers(RSO) in research and industrial institutions where ionizing radiations are used.
As they have to be alert always, only highly skilled people can handle the job effectively.
Another area where radiation Physicist plays an important role is in increasing the shelf life of perishable agricultural products during large-scale packaging for export, the professionals are in demand in this sector too that uses Gamma irradiator.
Further more, Gamma irradiation is used for irradiating seeds in order to make them fungal proof or disease resistance. Here too , Radiation Physicist can play an important role in all such places.
