Why diagnostic and nuclear medical physicists matter in academic medical centers: A perspective from a radiology department chair and a medical physicist

Financiación

Physicists enhance institutional and national leadership by shaping policy, advancing quality initiatives, and supporting accreditation. Nationally, our physicists hold leadership roles, including chairing the AAPM Diagnostic Radiology Resident Physics Curriculum Working Group that led a major curriculum update. Others serve on American Board of Radiology (ABR) Examination committees, ACR committees, and more than 20 panels across the AAPM, the American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP), the RSNA, and the Health Physics Society (HPS). These roles align departmental practice with national standards and raise institutional visibility. Physicists serve as editors and reviewers for journals and grant agencies, including the NIH, the RSNA, the Department of Defense, and internal programs, strengthening scholarship and funding. Locally, physicists lead capital and facility planning, protocol optimization, and safety across modalities, and serve on University (Radiation Safety, HealthCare Radiation Safety) and departmental (Executive Advisory, Education, Research) committees as well as multiple Clinical Practice and Quality Improvement teams.