Health physics
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Health physics is a field of science concerned with the evaluation and control of health hazards focused on the safe use of ionizing radiation. 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, 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 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.
History
According to Frame (2003):
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 (Stone 1946) 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. (Hacker 1987)"
References
Professional Societies
The Health Physics Society is a scientific and professional organization whose members specialize in occupational and environmental radiation safety.
See also
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Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
