Opportunities aplenty in radiological physics

With a wide range of applications and the need for expertise, radiological physics is an attractive career option.

“Professionals of radiological physics have the obligation of playing a role in saving lives and building the future.”

Radiological physics is all set to reign supreme in future manifestations of cutting-edge technology as the wonderful opportunities for professionals in radiological physics may increase with significant bilateral initiatives such as the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal.

Radiological physics has applications in diagnostics, therapy, nuclear medicine, industry, agriculture and research.

“Radiation therapy is getting modernised with the induction of computers and high precision gadgets,” says V. Murali, a medical physicist with a corporate hospital.

“The field experiences a dearth of technically sound people. Availability of more people with proper training will be a boon to radiological physics,” says H. Sudahar, a radiological safety officer.

BARC course

Talking about the radiological education in India he says, “Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) conducts a 1-year post-M.Sc. Diploma Course in radiological physics. The diploma is awarded by the University of Mumbai which qualifies the candidates for employment as medical physicists or radiological safety officers in medical and industrial institutions, handling radioisotopes and ionizing radiations.”

“Training on the safe use of radiation and radioisotopes in medicine, industry, agriculture and research is imparted to the students. The syllabus covers radiation physics, radiation chemistry, radiation biology, electronics and instrumentation, statistics, computational methods, applications of radioisotopes in medicine, industry research, agriculture and radiation hazards evaluation and control.”

“The training is supplemented by exhaustive experiments, demonstrations, visit to hospitals, industries and other divisions of BARC. The educational qualification is a master’s degree in Physics with a minimum of 50 per cent of marks,” he says.

PG courses

Other institutions such as Anna University, Bharathiyar University, Manipal University and Calicut University are some of the institutions conducting postgraduate courses in medical physics.

“The treatment planning, dosimetry, quality assurance checks have to be done meticulously in which the medical physicists play an important role. A lot of private hospitals are coming up with modern radiation therapy facilities in India. There is a definite demand for medical physicists,” says Dr. Murali.

“As radiological physics plays a role in increasing the shelf life of perishable agricultural products during large-scale packaging for export, the professionals are in demand in this sector too. Gamma irradiator is used in food irradiation plants to package the products,” says Mr. Sudahar.

“In large-scale industry too. these professionals are in demand as radiological safety officers,” he adds.

“The radiological safety officers should be alert and only highly skilled people can handle the job effectively,” says T. R. Vivek, a radiological safety officer.

Many radiological safety officers say there is a dearth of trained teachers in radiological physics in India which leads to poor quality of professionals.

“Professionals of radiological physics have the obligation of playing a role in saving lives and building the future. Some contribute by being a crucial part of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. So candidates who are intelligent and hardworking should come forward to shoulder the responsibility,” says Mr. Sudahar.
(Source:The Hindu)