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20 March 2010

Answer to Question #383 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Radiation Safety Careers — Career Development and Certification

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

I am interested in medical physics as a career option. What is the current (and near future) job market like in the areas of radiology and radiological oncology for persons with graduate degrees in medical physics? How about health physics? I'm not just interested in the job market in hospitals and clinics, but in academic institutions as well. If unable to answer these questions, could you please suggest sources that could provide such information?

As you have described, medical physicists work in the field of diagnosis and treatment of disease, most often in hospitals and clinics. Health physicists work in the field of radiation safety in hospitals, nuclear power plants, industry, and academia.

You appear to be more interested in medical physics. For more information on medical physics go to http://www.aapm.org.

However, since you also mentioned health physics you might want to look at several features of our Health Physics Society Web site. You can learn about Careers in Health Physics and find out where there are Academic and Training Programs in the field.

There are opportunities in medical health physics that would allow for you to work in hospitals or medical clinics. If you are a member of the Health Physics Society you can view several features on the "Members Only" part of our Web site for more information. Go to Salary Surveys and Job Listings. These will give you an idea of what types of jobs are available in the field and what salaries are at different experience and academic levels. If you already have a graduate degree in medical physics or plan to obtain one, you will have a good background for health physics. However, you will probably want to or need to take a few more courses specifically in the radiation safety area to better prepare you for work in health physics. It is also an advantage in the health physics field to become certified. To find out more about this program go to the American Academy of Health Physics Web site.

Gen Roessler, Editor HPS Web Site

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