True Tales of Medical Physics: Insights into a Life-Saving Specialty

by Jacob Van Dyk (Editor)

Overview

Since the discovery of the x-ray over 125 years ago, scientists and medical professionals alike have harnessed the power of the atom to heal and protect. This book brings together an all-star cast of high-profile and award-winning scholars, introducing the general readership to an often unnoticed yet societally vital profession – medical physics. This collection of personal short stories offers an informal, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the lives of these esteemed professionals, encapsulating their transformative “aha” moments within a whimsical hodgepodge of instructive and inspiring anecdotes. They even pass on words of wisdom discovered from their diverse experiences throughout the academic, clinical, and commercial worlds. The wealth of information packed into these vignettes runs the gamut from practical career advice to lighthearted tales of humorous misadventure, providing a tremendous overview of the breadth and depth of medical physics as a career and discipline while imparting sage advice that extends well beyond the field. In his Foreword to this book Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, provides his strong endorsement of the life-saving work carried out by medical physicists and the profession as a whole.

From the general public to the budding student in search of career guidance, as well as young and seasoned practicing professionals, these thought-provoking, witty, and simply entertaining “untold stories” encourage the reader to reflect on and ponder the many enduring lessons born from unexpected life-turning events.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030917234
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	06/07/2022
Edition description:	1st ed. 2022
Pages:	575
Sales rank:	640,530
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jacob Van Dyk is Professor Emeritus of Oncology and Medical Biophysics at the Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, and Former Head of Physics and Engineering at the London Regional Cancer Program (LRCP) of the London Health Sciences Centre. He has over 40 years of experience in the practical facets of radiation oncology physics with 24 years at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (1971–1995); 15 years at the London Regional Cancer Program (LRCP), London, Ontario, Canada (1995–2010); and nearly two years at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, Austria (2009-2011). During his tenure at PMH, he took a one-year leave of absence (1974–1975) to work at the Centre de Radiothérapy, Hôpital Cantonal de Génève, in Geneva, Switzerland.

During his recent years at the LRCP, he was associated with research grants averaging about $1 Million per year involving various aspects of the implementation of modern technology into clinical practice. Since retirement, he has worked on projects related to radiation therapy resource analysis in different income environments around the world as well as providing medical physics guidance in low-to-middle income countries.

He has won various teaching awards. He was elected Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine in July 1997 for his “contributions to the field of medical physics”. In 2004, he was elected Fellow of The Institute of Physics (London, U.K.) “in recognition of his status in the physics community”. In 2011, he was awarded the Gold Medal by the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP). This is the highest honour which COMP bestows on a member of COMP to recognize an outstanding career as Medical Physicist who has worked mainly in Canada. In July 2012, he was presented with COMP’s inaugural Fellow of COMP (FCOMP) award in recognition of “his significant contribution to the organization and to the field of medical physics in Canada”. In 2013, in view of the 50^th anniversary of the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP), he was selected as one out of 50 medical physicists "who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of medical physics over the last 50 years." In May 2014, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Science (honoris causa) degree at Western University’s MD Convocation. In November 2019, the IOMP awarded him the International Day of Medical Physics (IDMP) award for “promoting medical physics to a larger audience and highlighting the contributions medical physicists make for patient care.” The IOMP is an organization representing nearly 30,000 medical physicists worldwide.

He has served as President of the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine (CCPM) as well as one of its examiners for multiple years. He participates on the boards and task groups of various professional, national, and international organizations. He also participates as Consultant and Lecturer for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Consultant for the World Health Organization (WHO), especially as related to technology, quality assurance, and safety considerations in radiation therapy. While he served as Full-Time Consultant at the IAEA in Vienna, Austria, from 2009 to 2011, he continues to work with the IAEA as Consultant, especially regarding projects relating to low-income environments. He has been Invited Lecturer to conferences and courses in over 41 countries.

In addition to about 200 publications, he has published 4 books (~2600 pages) in 1999 (Volume 1), 2005 (Volume 2), 2013 (Volume 3), and 2020 (Volume 4) entitled The Modern Technology of Radiation Oncology: A Compendium for Medical Physicists and Radiation Oncologists. He co-edited Volume 6 of Advances in Medical Physics (2016).

His most recent activities include founding a new organization called Medical Physics for World Benefit (www.mpwb.org) of which he is has now completed his terms of office although he is still involved in various related projects. This organization is devoted to providing medical physics support to lower income countries throughout the world.

Table of Contents

What is Medical Physics? And Other Related Questions.- The Elevator that Couldn’t and the Laundry Cart that Could.- The Decades of Change.- Looking Back at 50 Years in Medical Physics — the Ugly, the Bad and the Good.- A Day in the Life of a Medical Physicist.- YOU Can Change the Medicine.- “How good are you?”.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“For anyone who has wondered who invents the machines at the heart of modern medicine, or what happens behind the scenes before a CT appointment, this book introduces the reader to one of the invisible members of the care team. For anyone who likes both hard science and is interested in the clinical care of patients this book has many examples of people who have walked that path and can light the way. Lastly, for anyone who in interested in science and like a good yarn, True Tales of Medical Physics is as entertaining as it is informative.” (Robert Meiler, University of Rochester Medical Center)

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: David W Jordan, Ph.D.(University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center)
Description: This book is a collection of 21 short memoirs written by accomplished medical physicists. Some relate an entire career in medical physics, while others focus on telling a specific story or episode that is noteworthy or insightful.
Purpose: The book's purpose is to describe medical physics to those unfamiliar with it, be they students considering the field, family or friends of medical physicists, or the general public. The editor, a gold medalist of both COMP and AAPM, admits to difficulty over the years in describing or explaining the field to family and friends, and suggests that the stories in this book might help overcome such difficulties. This is an important and timely goal; most medical physicists can relate to the difficulty of making our profession understandable, interesting, and relevant to laypersons. Our ability to articulate the value of our work is of vital importance to the future of medical physics, and this book provides both a tool and an education in how to do so effectively.
Audience: The book is written for a broad audience, either with or without formal education or training in science. The contributing authors uniformly use conversational styles in their writing, resulting in chapters that are accessible and appropriate for the intended audience. The authors' names will be familiar and recognizable to many medical physicists, and they share personal recollections of some of the most noteworthy events in the history of medical physics. This also makes the book useful for medical physics students and early-career professionals, many of whom will not have the opportunity to interact with these authors personally. By capturing their stories, the book provides a way for future medical physicists to learn and benefit from their experiences.
Features: The book is divided into five parts, grouping chapters around main themes of medical physics being "more than" clinical care, research, education, radiation protection, and innovation and commercialization of new technology. Some chapters read like textbook chapters and include figures such as diagrams of equipment and data plots while others show photographs and correspondence that supplement authors' personal recollections and anecdotes. Of particular interest is a firsthand description of the infamous Goiania accident; many of us are familiar with this disaster from official reports but likely have not heard or read a personal account of a medical physicist who was directly involved in the response. A recurring theme throughout many chapters is that these highly accomplished authors clearly recall specific advice, challenges, and inspirations from their teachers and mentors from the early days of their careers. They pass along this wisdom to readers and in the process provide strong examples of good mentorship. Of the 22 contributed chapters, 20 are written by men and only two by women. This is disappointing considering the numerous and substantial contributions and accomplishments of women in medical physics. As a portrait of the profession, it does not accurately reflect our current state or future direction. We should all fervently hope that women who turn to this book as they consider a career in medical physics do not find this discouraging. Fortunately, there are many more fascinating "true tales of medical physics" yet to be told, and hopefully this book will inspire others to come forward to tell them.
Assessment: This book is unique in that it is not just for medical physicists and their work, it is about them. It joins a genre of other popular books that provide a behind-the-scenes perspective of other scientific, technical, and medical fields and will likely appeal to a general audience. At the same time, it provides sufficient depth in the medical physics content to serve as a useful source of advice and guidance for current and future medical physicists who would seek to learn from the experiences of these authors.

Doody's Review Service

If this capsule history of the Nobel Prizes related to medical physics piques your curiosity about the field, you may want to dip into Van Dyk’s book … which brings the story of medical phys­ics to the present day with contributions from 22 leading medical physicists from around the world. Happy browsing!” (Rajeev Bansal, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 65 (1), February, 2023)

“[This] book is a collection of real-life stories told by award-winning medical physicists. … As the titles … suggest, a medical physicist is perhaps more than history, more than clinical service, more than research, more than protection of the public, more than teaching and more than commercial developments. Hopefully, readers of this book will leave with a fuller grasp of what medical physics is – and perhaps even be inspired to look into it as a worthwhile career option for themselves.” (Tami Freeman, physicsworld.com, October 11, 2022)

From the Publisher