This post was contributed by Mahadevappa Mahesh, MS, PhD, FACR, chair of the American College of Radiology (ACR) Commission on Medical Physics.
The American College of Radiology’s (ACR) Commission on Medical Physics (CMP) met on July 14, 2019 in San Antonio, Texas during the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). As most ACR physics members are also AAPM members, it’s tradition for commission members to meet at the AAPM annual meeting.
In addition, there was a flurry of activities by ACR physics members
- The ACR CMP hosted a student and trainee reception on Saturday evening with more than 80 students and residents in attendance. Members of the physics commission spoke about the ACR, how it supports the interests of medical physics and other membership benefits
- For the first time, the ACR CMP organized a two hour SAM course titled “ACR Updates: Digital Mammography/CT/Fluoroscopy.” Courses were well attended and presented by ACR physics members:
- Introduction to ACR activities by Dustin Gress
- Digital Mammography QC manual by Eric Berns
- ACR CT Accreditation program by Chad Dillon
- ACR-DIR Fluoroscopy Pilot Program by Kyle Jones
- A number of ACR physics committees and subcommittees met face-to-face for productive meetings
ACR CMP members have kept busy in the past few months with several initiatives and activities, including:
- The Richard L. Morin Fellowship in Medical Physics was developed late fall 2018. Upon approval by the ACR Board of Chancellors in Jan. 2019, CMP was successful in rolling out the program, developing a rubric for reviewing applications and selecting the first Morin Fellow, Ashley Rubinstein, who attended the ACR Annual Meeting in May 2019.
- CMP chair Dr. Mahadevappa Mahesh was invited to speak at the International Symposium on Standards, Applications and Quality Assurance in Medical Radiation Dosimetry at United Nations — International Atomic Energy Agency (UN-IAEA) in Vienna, Austria
- The ACR Radiation Safety Officer Resources update is currently underway
- Media coverage related to CMP was published in the Radiology Business Journal, the ACR Bulletin and other sources
A common thread observed by attendees among the scientific program and vendor exhibits is the increased use of imaging in radiation therapy. I’m proud to see ACR CMP members advancing radiological care through various events and initiatives like AAPM.
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