AMERICAN BOARD OF
MEDICAL PHYSICS, INC.
STUDY GUIDE 2006-2007
"Part III -
Medical Health Physics"
TOPICS FOR ORAL EXAMINATION
The oral examination is conducted by a multi-member examination panel and is designed to determine the candidate's knowledge and fitness to practice in a clinical environment. In general, questions will seek to determine the candidate's practical experience as well as his/her understanding of current radiation protection standards. Whereas through Parts I and II we test the candidate's level of knowledge, the goal of this examination is to determine whether this knowledge can be applied correctly and effectively in a hospital setting.
During the oral examination the candidate will be asked by the panel members to demonstrate understanding of the following 9 topics:
Content Categories
| I. | Instrumentation | 10% |
| II. | Laboratory Design | 5% |
| III. | Standards and Regulations |
15% |
| IV. | Radiation Oncology - Including brachytherapy | 15% |
| V. | Structural Shielding Design |
15% |
| VI. | Imaging-Quality Assurance - Including Nuclear Medicine |
20% |
| VII. | Radiobiology |
5% |
| VIII. | Radiopharmaceutical Therapy | 10% |
| IX. | Non-Ionizing Radiation | 5% |
Subjects Covered
Instrumentation
Characteristics and limitations of Portable ionization
chambers
Geiger-Muller counters
Scintillation counters
Liquid
Scintillation counting systems
Multi-channel
analyzers
Gamma counting
systems
Uses of
instrumentation in the field and in emergency situations
Laboratory Design
Ventilation
systems
Hood
design
Contamination control
Standards and Regulations
Risk
Estimates
Radiobiological basis for permissible doses
Permissible
Doses
Familiarity
with Regulatory Codes
Familiarity
with NRC/NCRP Guidelines
Radiation Oncology/Brachytherapy Quality
Assurance
Elements of
Quality Management Program
JCAHO
Requirements
Inventory
Control-Brachytherapy
Exposure
Control
Misadministrations
Incident
Investigation
Quality
Control Testing
Structural Shielding Design
Diagnostic
Installations
Accelerator
Shielding and Upgrades
Neutron
Protection
Sealed
Source Protection
Imaging-Quality Assurance
FDA
Regulations
Elements of
Quality Management Program
JCAHO
Requirements
Quality
Control Testing
Radiobiology
BEIR
Reports
NCRP
Recommendations
Radiopharmaceutical Therapy
I-131
Therapy
· Typical
Doses
· Exposure
Control
· Contamination
Control
· Release
Criteria
Radioimmunotherapy
Non-Ionizing Radiation
Laser
Safety Standards
MRI Design and Hazard
The following text
provides a listing of books or reports that are intended to assist persons
preparing for the examination. This
list is not all-inclusive.
A basic understanding of medical physics practices is necessary in addition to standard health physics practices and principles. An understanding of diagnostic radiology to the level of S. Bushong, Radiological Science for Technologist, (latest edition Mosby-Year Book, St. Louis) is needed. For radiation therapy, a level midway between say Applied Physics for Radiation Oncology, (R. Stanton and I. Stinson, Med. Physics. Pub., Madison, 1996) and The Physics of Radiation Therapy ( F. Kahn ,Second Edition, Williams & Wilkens, Baltimore) is desirable. For nuclear medicine, the text Physics in Nuclear Medicine, J. Sorenson and M. Phelps, Gruine and Stratton, latest edition is helpful.
Other texts of interest are
Hospital Health Physics, Proceedings of the 1993 HPS Summer School, Eds., G.G. Eichholz & J.J. Shanka.
Radiation Instruments, Ed., H.Cember, Health Physics Summer School, 2001.
Shielding Techniques, P. McGinley, Second Edition, Med. Physics Pub., 2002.
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Title 10, Parts 20 and 35
Regulatory Guides, including 8.39
Licensing Guide for Medical Licenses of Broad Scope
Licensing Guide for Specific Scope Licenses
American Association of Physicists in Medicine
Report of Task Group 40
Report of Task Group 53
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements
Report No. 37, “Precautions in the Management of Patients Who Have Received Therapeutic Amounts of Radionuclides”
Report No. 49, “Structural Shielding Design and Evaluation for Medical Use of X Rays and Gamma Rays Up to 10 MeV”
Report No. 54, “Medical Radiation Exposure of Pregnant and Potentially Pregnant Women”
Report No. 65, “Management of Persons Accidentally Contaminated with Radionuclides”
Report No. 79, “Neutron Contamination from Medical Electron Accelerators”
Report No. 102, “Medical X-Ray, Electron Beam and Gamma-Ray Protection for Energies Up to 50 MeV”
Report No. 115, “Risk Estimates for Radiation Protection”
Report No. 116, “Limitation of Exposure to Ionizing Radiation”
Report No. 127, “Operational Radiation Safety Program”
1. What elements would you present in a plan to deal with a teletherapy Co-60 source or HDR source (your choice) that will not automatically retract and continues to irradiate a patient.
2. What specification would you require from (a) the architect and (b) the linear accelerator manufacture before beginning a therapy shielding design.
3. A radiation worker 3 months pregnant is given a lumbar spine series. You are asked to calculate fetal dose. What facts would you like to know from the Radiology Department before beginning your calculations? How would you communicate your results?
Note 1: You should make an effort to see as many different QC procedures as practical in various areas. You are responsible for expert knowledge in all medical radiation safety areas regardless of your past and present employment.
Note 2: If you have not done so before, it is worthwhile to borrow a blueprint of a diagnostic room and a therapy vault and calculate the shielding requirements.