I am a Medical Physicist.

1. I am a Medical Physicist. Let me show you what work Medical Physicists do.

2. First, What is Physics? • Physics describes and makes use of the way anything interacts with anything else. • Like how balls bounce, why does the sun shine, and what happens to light when it hits your eye. Second, What is Radiation? • Radiation is energy given off by atoms that have too much energy. Like light, which has low energy. • Radiation can pass through some things, and can be used to take pictures of the inside of things. • Radiation cannot be seen, but causes changes in the things it goes through.

3. Medical Physicists work in Hospitals. • When you are sick a doctor may examine you and ask for some tests or treatments to be done. • These tests are often done in a hospital by doctors and other staff.

4. Medical Physicists understand radiation • Radiation is used in many tests to see what is happening inside your body. • Some treatments use radiation too. • Often computer controlled machines generate the radiation.

5. Radiation can be Harmful • Large amounts of radiation may possibly make people sick or damage their bodies. • Medical physicists studied these effects, and make sure that any radiation to patients and staff is kept as low as possible to avoid any chance of radiation effects. • They make sure staff work correctly and stay safe. Safe Staff Happy Staff

6. Radiation can treat Cancer • Radiation can be used to kill Cancer in some sick people (patients). • Radiation can be given in many ways. One way is to use radio-therapy treatment machines (units). • Physicists help set-up, check and measure radiation from these units. • They also help plan the radiation treatments on computers. • Physicists also ensure safety of users. Treatment Plan

7. Radiation is penetrating • Physicists understand the way radiation passes through (penetrates) things (or patients). • They help make sure X-ray machines or gamma cameras are working properly and that the pictures of the patients are taken properly. • They also help design new methods and machines. Like inventing the wheel (This is a joke)

8. They understand computers • Sometimes the computers give the people who use them a hard time. • Medical Physicists help users to understand the computers and to use them better. (This is also a joke)

9. Education is part of the job • They inform the public and staff about the possible dangers of radiation. • They teach doctors, radiographers, and people who fix the machines, how radiation functions and how to use it.

10. Physicists use many Graphs • Graphs are used to relate one thing to another. They can be used to show all sorts of things. • They also work with and understand lots of mathematics like this:

11. Other Areas of Interest • Information Analysis (like lots of numbers on computers). • Ultrasound (like that used to check on the baby for pregnant mothers). • Magnetic Resonance (that noisy tunnel that can take good pictures of our inside). • Flow studies (like how blood really gets to the brain). • And they like to answer questions. (like why )

12. I hope you now know a little of the work that a Medical Physicist does? Compiler: W I D Rae Address: Medical Physics Department, Addington Hospital, P O Box 977, Durban, 4000