Diagnostic Physics
The Diagnostic Physics Section (DPS) consists of seven diagnostic medical physicists that cover multiple hospitals within the University of Washington system (UW Medical Center Pacific Campus, UW Northwest Campus, Harborview Medical Center, Roosevelt Clinic, Eastside Specialty Clinic, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Sports Medicine Center at Husky Stadium and Seattle Children’s hospital). Each member of the team is certified or in the final stage of being certified by either the American Board of Radiology (ABR) or the American Board of Medical Physicists (ABMP).
The Diagnostic Medical Physicist is an essential member of the medical imaging team and the aim of the DPS is to serve as a resource to physicians and hospital staff for issues related to radiation dose and image quality in the rapidly changing field of Radiology. For questions, contact information may be found under the ‘Meet the Physicists’ heading.
This is achieved in a variety of ways:
- Clinical Physics Coverage
- The establishment of systems of quality control for medical imaging equipment in accordance with State, Federal, and accrediting body requirements
- Educational Outreach
- Radiology resident instruction in the Diagnostic Radiology Imaging Physics Course, focused on the physical principles and technology used in Radiology
- As-needed formal and informal lectures about radiation safety and good radiologic practices
- Research
- Clinical research projects that incorporates current practices in dose monitoring, medical image quality, and patient care
- Technology
- Assisting with selecting and optimizing state of the art imaging technology in delivering the best possible patient care
- Patient Safety
- Ensuring radiation safety by optimizing imaging protocols to result in the highest image quality at a minimal risk
- Patient dosimetry calculation and monitoring
