Statement Of Purpose In Medical Physics

Nuclear medicine has been around for more than 50 years now and stems from the discovery of x-rays and artificial radioactivity. In 1946, nuclear medicine made a monumental breakthrough when radioactive iodine led to the complete disappearance of cancer in a patient’s thyroid. Nuclear medicine became widely used in the 1950’s to measure the function of the thyroid, to diagnose thyroid disease, and for the treatment of patients with hyperthyroidism. By the 1970’s nuclear medicine was used to visualize other organs of the body other than the thyroid such as scanning of the liver and spleen, localizing brain tumors, and images of the gastrointestinal track. The use of digital computers and detection of heart disease arose in

Nuclear medicine technology has advantages and disadvantages just as any other career. Using nuclear medicine technology could diagnose a lot of harmful diseases. Also, it is more effective treatment for most categories of cancerous diseases and conditions in some medical institutions. This type of medicine technology helps physicians perform their responsibility of patients’ therapy easily; moreover, when a serious disease developed in the patient’s body, the x-rays of this medicine technology could scan the most sensitive part of the patient’s body.

The main point of lecture was to continue discussing about the light spectra and atoms. Specifically, we used the equations and calculated a photon of light’s energy at a certain wavelength. Also, we discussed the light spectrum and how particular wavelengths of light are absorbed by matter.

At a time when it was popular practice for kids growing up in my country to aspire to become doctors, lawyers and engineers, for no rational reasons owing to naiveté that comes with such tender ages, I had known I wanted to save lives. I just didn’t know in what capacity it would be. I can safely say that I grew up faster than most children my age, I had known what it meant to lose a father at six, I had seen an aunt die of what they said was cancer at ten. I had also known the frustration of not being able to do anything to save both. And of course, I couldn’t have. I am a grown man now, equipped with the rationality that comes with education, and most importantly the informed will to save the world. And I have found an important tool in Medical Physics.

Being a nuclear medicine technology means creating images of different area of the patient’s body and preparing radioactive drugs and administer them to patients undergoing the scans. The technologists

According to the researchers of mayoclinic.org, Radiation Oncology is the practice of regulating high dosages of radiation to kill cancerous cells. In this job several small tasks accumulate into a complex system. A radiation oncologist can expect to: place radioactive material into the body to locate and pinpoint tumors, keep detailed records of treatment proficiency, examine and create machinery to diminish harmful exposure to radiation, and to console other oncologists about methods such as chemotherapy and stem-cell treatment. As a young child, I decided to delve into the study of cancer based on watching my mother battle the disease (mayoclinic.org).

The first invention of radiology began with the creation of X-rays in 1895 when Wilhelm Roentgen, a 50-year-old professor of physics at Germany’s University of Wurzburg, made a discovery that would in a very short time change medical and human history. Though, discovered by accident, Roentgen’s discovery would help detect tumors, broken bones and bullets buried within bodies, never before seen with the naked eye. Since the invention of X-rays, there had been numerous discoveries of similar inventions, from image intensifier to ultrasound to magnetic resonance imaging. Without these inventions, humans would not have been able to see the inner workings of the body or detect key information in modern times that allow us to prevent serious illnesses where other inventions proved useless since imaging plays a huge role in diagnosis. In current society, radiology’s first creation has been exposed to most citizens, whether it is to detect a broken bone at the doctor’s or to determine a person’s risk of getting cavities at the dentist’s. Although, inventions from radiology does hold risks of radiation exposure amongst its patients, the benefits of them greatly outweighs its risks.

Nuclear medicine is traced back to all sorts of sciences like physics, engineering, and chemistry. It is said that John Lawrence is the father of nuclear imaging because he was the first person ever to treat a leukemia patient with a radioisotope. From then on, a number of doctors experimented with patients with blood disorders and cancer by use of radioisotopes and were successful as well. One doctor’s procedure to halt the growth of cancer on the thyroid became the turning point in medical history. The beginnings of organ screening, for example PET scans, were born.

Nuclear medicine uses computers and radioactive material to make images of the body to diagnose many forms of cancer, heart disease, gastrointestinal, endocrine, neurological disorders, and other irregularities. The procedure is usually painless. The patient has to take radiopharmaceuticals, or radiotracers before the exam. These are drugs that are injected, swallowed, or inhaled as a gas that emit radio waves from the area being scanned. During the exam the radiotracers give off tiny amounts of energy also known as gamma rays. Special computers detect the gamma rays and interpret them into pictures of the area examined. Nuclear medicine imaging differs from other exams in the fact that regular exams picture the structure and anatomy or the body. Nuclear medicine imaging focuses on the chemical reactions and physiologic processes that go on inside the body, like brain activity or rates of metabolism.

I have witnessed people struggle through hardships due to disease, or some other medical condition, whether they be a stranger on the street, or even in my own family, which has prompted me to aid those in need by becoming a physician. I chose this career to due to my passion for aiding those in need, and attentiveness while performing duties, which will prove vital in this career. Furthermore, I greatly enjoy both science and mathematics, specifically in the field of atomic physics. Understanding the radionuclides, and the effects of them will be extremely important in the career. My love of physics, medicine, and my attentiveness, along with my urge to aid those in need is what prompts me to become a professional in radioactive medicine. For these reasons, I have chosen to become a Nuclear Medicine

(Wagner, Jr., 2006) In fact, the number of nuclear medicine imaging procedure requests has increased seven-fold in the last 25 years. (Nuclear Medical Imaging, 2009) But before we can theorize on where nuclear medicine is going, we must first understand where it came from.

The area the area where a person gets radiation consists of all the tumor and a small area of regular tissue around it. The small area of regular tissue around the tumor is included because breathing and the moving of organ can affect the position of the tumor and to reduce the chance of getting cancer by killing the bad cells that have spread to regular ones.The use of radiation therapy began shortly after the discovery of radium and x-rays.In 1903, doctors reported the success of radium treating cancer.Doctors used the brachytherapy method, which is putting the radioactive material inside the body near the tumor.This method is still in use and has been improved to be more efficient.From the first use of radiation therapy to the 1950’s, doctors start to discover the side effects of over exposure.In 1965, radiation was use to treat liver cancer, which was previously incurable.In the 1980’s radiation becomes standard use and is used with chemotherapy for tumors that cannot be removed surgicaly.In the early 90’s, powerful computers allow the use of 3D imaging to help target tumors better and make better treatment plans.In the late 1990’s, a new method of radiation therapy is used to help protect important organs from radiation.In 1999, numerous methods for curing cancer are discovered.The future of

How has nuclear medicine innovated science and society? Within the last century, science faced several discoveries that caused the scientific community and society to change one another. When evaluating the scientific discoveries during the twentieth century, the decisive advancements took place in the study of nuclear physics. Affecting both science and society inquires formed around medical uses for nuclear materials. Advanced research in nuclear science with radioisotopes allowed doctors to treat tumors efficiently to transform healthcare in society. The conclusion of the Second World War plunged the world into the Atomic Era. The birth of the Atomic Era caused science and society to question the medical use of nuclear physics.

In 2007, it is predicted that almost 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States (Pickle et al., 2007). More than half of these cancer patients will undergo the use of radiation as a means for treating cancer at some point during the course of their disease (Perez and Brady, 1998). Cancer, a disease caused by an uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells, affects millions of people around the world. Radiotherapy is one of the well known various methods used to treat cancer, where high powered rays are aimed directly at the tumor from the outside of the body as external radiation or an instrument is surgically placed inside the body producing a result of internal radiation. Radiation is delivered to the cancerous regions of the body to damage and destroy the cells in that area, terminating the rapid growth and division of the cells. Radiation therapy has been used by medicine as a treatment for cancer from the beginning of the twentieth century, with its earliest beginnings coming from the discovery of x-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Röntgen. With the advancements in physics and computer programming, radiation had greatly evolved towards the end of the twentieth century and made the radiation treatment more effective. Radiation therapy is a curative treatment approach for cancer because it is successful in killing cancerous tumor cells and stop them from regenerating.

In terms of education, enormous equipment and expensive yet high quality machines have always surrounded the College of Medical Radiation Technology (or CMRT). However, it is not just about the cost but also about their effectiveness and usefulness for the CMRT students. With these machines, students get to have hands-on activities that prepare them for when they take their internship in hospitals and as future health