Professor John Mallard
First ACPSEM Honorary Fellow,
Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine
Part 4.
By the beginning of the 1960s, some Australian and New Zealand hospitals had established physics departments (similar to those in UK) to provide scientific services for radiotherapy, radiology and (the then very new) nuclear medicine. Engineering was part and parcel of this trend providing services for a wide range of clinical activities ranging from operating theatres to rehabilitation to electronic maintenance of electro-medical equipment.
It was time for Australian (and later New Zealand) physicists working in hospitals to consider breaking their professional ties with UK and establish their own professional organisation.
The shift from promoting medical physics to physical sciences in Australia and New Zealand was not surprising since we were imitating the UK model where medical physics departments were expanding beyond radiology and radiotherapy and becoming more broadly based as ‘Physical Science Departments’. Existing physics departments and technical services could readily be expanded to cater for the scientific and technology advancements in medicine.
Formation of the ACPSEM
The Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM) was formally established on 1 August 1977.
The 17th Annual Conference in Physics and Engineering in Medicine and Biology became 1st Annual Conference of Physical Sciences in Medicine and Biology for the newly formed ACPSEM.
Professor John Mallard from Aberdeen University was the Guest Speaker at this inaugural meeting of ACPSEM.
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