Answer to Question #1612 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

1. Active Certification by the American Board of Health Physics.
    
2. Registration by the National Registry of Radiation Protection Technologists.
    
3. Master's or higher degree in a creditable area of education.
    
4. Bachelor's degree in a creditable area of education and one full year of professional-level experience.
    
5. Associate degree in a creditable area of education and three full years of professional-level experience.
    
6. Five full years of professional-level experience.

Clearly, based on the short description of your résumé, you should qualify for membership in the Health Physics Society.

Part two of your question: These two areas—nuclear medicine and hospital radiation safety—have quite different entry requirements. Your eligibility to work in these areas is more a function of the course work you undertook during your educational experience and expertise that you developed in the work place. The current demand for entry-level health physicists is greater than supply. The demand-supply ratio for senior professionals is not a clear picture to me. If a position arises that you find interesting, I would suggest you apply. While interviewing you might describe to your potential future employer the degree of the mismatch of your academic preparation and the requirements of the position (if this indeed exists). One can practice the profession of health physics in most states without a license or professional certification so to some extent your preparation and experience would be considered adequate in many situations. When it comes down to the bottom line of your qualifications—only you as a professional can answer the question about if you are prepared to undertake the responsibilities associated with a particular job . . . understanding of course the consequences of not knowing the various nuances of the field that are part of "expertise" and the subsequent costs of possible errors. To insulate yourself from the cost of ignorance one could insist as a condition of employment that your employer support a rigorous training campaign including a long and continuous series of professional education courses, continuing education courses, and support for attending professional meetings where you could develop a network of peer support. One of the ultimate goals of this endeavor should be to obtain professional certification from the American Board of Health Physics. If crashing directly into cold water and taking responsibility for such a position is distasteful to you, or you find that potential employers are not comfortable with your level of experience and education, you might consider trying to obtain a second advanced degree in either medical physics or health physics. This of course has some short-term economic drawbacks but I suspect would greatly enhance your marketability in these areas in which you expressed interest.

Rich Brey, PhD, CHP