RSNA Press Release

OAK BROOK, Ill. (February 17, 2014)— The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) have announced the recipients of the 2014 AAPM/RSNA Imaging Physics Residency Grants.

They are:

• University of Chicago, Zhengfeng Lu, Ph.D., Program Director; David Paushter, M.D., Chair of Radiology
• Duke University Medical Center, Ehsan Samei, Ph.D., Program Director; Erik Paulson, M.D., Chair of Radiology
• Emory University, Jonathon A. Nye, Ph.D., Program Director; Carolyn C. Meltzer, M.D., Chair of Radiology
• Indiana University School of Medicine, Yun Liang, Ph.D., Program Director; Valerie P. Jackson, M.D., Chair of Radiology
• University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Jagadeesh R. Sonnad, Ph.D., Program Director; Anthony M. Alleman, M.D., Chair of Radiology

RSNA and AAPM have partnered to support a total of eight new Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP)-accredited imaging physics residencies over the next six years.

On November 28, 2012, the AAPM Board of Directors approved $560,000 in funding for new imaging physics residencies in either diagnostic or nuclear medicine. RSNA will provide an additional $560,000. Each institution will receive $35,000 per year for four years in matching support of two residents.

Under new requirements for accredited residency training from the American Board of Radiology, medical physicists must complete an accredited two-year residency program in order to take board exams and achieve the Qualified Medical Physicist (QMP) designation.

"AAPM and RSNA have joined together to stimulate the development of new training programs for medical physicists in diagnostic radiology," said N. Reed Dunnick, M.D., the Fred Jenner Hodges Professor and chair of the Department of Radiology at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, Mich., and president of the RSNA Board of Directors. "Medical imaging has become an essential component of healthcare, and the quality of those imaging studies is significantly improved by the participation of qualified medical physicists. Currently, there are too few CAMPEP-approved training programs to satisfy the need for medical physicists. Both societies are delighted with the enthusiasm with which this offer has been accepted and the quality of the program applications."

In order to encourage more programs to become CAMPEP-approved, the AAPM and the RSNA have joined together to fund 50 percent of each trainee's cost. After completion of the grant, the programs are expected to pick up the full trainee funding. Three institutions were awarded funding beginning in 2013: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

"The AAPM is thrilled for this partnership with the RSNA to establish imaging physics residencies," said John E. Bayouth, Ph.D., the Bhudatt Paliwal Professor and chief of Physics in the Department of Human Oncology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., and president of the AAPM. "Structured and documented training provided in clinical medical physics residency is essential to produce the highest quality medical physics services for patients. Clinical Medical Physics residency is required for board certification, certification is required to become a Qualified Medical Physicist, and QMPs are the only individuals recognized as qualified to perform a spectrum of clinical tasks. The AAPM believes this linkage is essential for patient safety and quality of care."

RSNA is an association of more than 53,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists, promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)