Health physics

Health physics is a field of science concerned with the evaluation and control of health hazards focused on the safe use of ionizing radiation.^[1] Health physicists principally work at facilities where radionuclides or ionizing radiation are used or produced such as medical institutions, government laboratories, nuclear power plants, regulatory agencies and manufacturers. There are many sub-specialites in the field of health physics^[2], including

• Nuclear instrumentation and measurements
• Internal and external dosimetry
• Radioactive waste management
• Radioactive contamination
• Radiological engineering (shielding, holdup, etc)
• Environmental assessment
• Operational radiation protection
• Particle accelerator physics
• Radiological emergency response - (e.g., Nuclear Emergency Support Team)

The field of medical physics is similar to that of health physics since practitioners rely on the same fundamental science (i.e., radiation physics, biology, etc). Health physicists, however, focus on the evaluation and protection of human health from radiation, whereas medical physicists use radiation and other physics-based technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of disease.^[3]

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History of the term "Health Physics"

According to Paul Frame ^[4]:

"The term Health Physics is believed to have originated in the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago in 1942, but the exact origin is unknown. The term was possibly coined by Robert Stone or Arthur Compton, since Stone was the head of the Health Division and Arthur Compton was the head of the Metallurgical Laboratory. The first task of the Health Physics Section was to design shielding for reactor CP-1 that Enrico Fermi was constructing, so the original HPs were mostly physicists trying to solve health-related problems. The explanation given by Robert Stone was that '...the term Health Physics has been used on the Plutonium Project to define that field in which physical methods are used to determine the existence of hazards to the health of personnel.'

A variation was given by Raymond Finkle, a Health Division employee during this time frame. 'The coinage at first merely denoted the physics section of the Health Division... the name also served security: 'radiation protection' might arouse unwelcome interest; 'health physics' conveyed nothing.'"

References

1. ^ http://hps.org/aboutthesociety/historyandmission/mission.html
2. ^ http://hps.org/publicinformation/hpcareers.html
3. ^ http://www.aapm.org/medical_physicist/default.asp
4. ^ http://www.hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q2561.html

Professional Societies

The Health Physics Society is a scientific and professional organization whose members specialize in occupational and environmental radiation safety.

See also

• Certified Health Physicist