Answer to Question #4185 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Can you please tell me how a supervising nuclear medicine physician differs from that of a Radiation Safety Officer (RSO)?  Does he have more powers than does the RSO?

Great question.  Hopefully I can clarify without making it more confusing.

The named Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) is the individual responsible to the state or federal regulators to assure the organization is in compliance with applicable regulations.  As such, this individual has the authority to make sure work with radioactive materials is done safely.  Thus, he or she can shut down an area or prevent an individual from using radioactive materials if he/she thinks the situation is unsafe.

A supervising nuclear medicine physician is a physician approved by the organizational radiation safety committee or by the regulators (via the licensing process) to administer radioactive materials to patients because he/she has all the necessary training and experience with radioactive materials.  The "supervising" part comes in when there is an unauthorized physician (for example, a resident who does not yet meet the requirements) who wants to administer radioactive materials to patients but, since they aren't authorized yet, do so under the supervision of an authorized user—the nuclear medicine physician.

The RSO has full responsibility for the radiation safety program at the organization.  This is part of the authority given to him/her during the licensing process.

Kelly Classic
Certified Medical Health Physicist