RADIOLOGICAL AND MEDICALPHYSICS SOCIETY, RAMPS

During the mid 1940’s, physicists associated with medical institutions in the metropolitan New York City region commenced meetings to compare instrumentation and their measurements of the quantity of radioactivity in solutions in medical use. This was necessary for uniformity, and also for accuracy since the national standard available appeared to be inconsistent. This was just prior to the availability of megavoltage x rays and electrons, and the primary concern of the physicists was associated with the uses of radioactive nuclides. The clinical uses of iodine-131 and other radionuclides ~phosphorus-32, yttrium-90, etc. were being actively explored and agreement on the amount of activity being administered was essential. Such measurements led to the ‘‘New York Millicurie,” which served a vital purpose. By 1948 the meetings of these medical physicists were on a scheduled basis with elected officers and records. Those initially active in RAMPS included Mones Berman, Hanson Blatz, Carl Braestrup, Giacchino Failla, Sergei Feitelberg, Elizabeth Focht, Hiram Hart, Lillian Jacobson, Robert Loevinger, Leo Marinelli, Eleanor Oshry, Edith Quimby, Edward Siegel, Aaron Yalow, Rosalyn Yalow, and others. This group established the measurement procedure for the ‘‘New York Millicurie,’’ and their meetings served both scientific and professional functions. A constitution was written in1954 by R. Yalow and J. Laughlin, and revised in 1957 by them. RAMPS has continued to grow from its modest beginning to a current membership of about 150 and conducts monthly meetings which are well attended. Their meetings usually include scientific presentations by a member or guest on physical aspects of treatment, diagnosis, nuclear medicine, or protection. Also, an all-day symposium on a pertinent scientific topic is held annually. RAMPS welcomed the initiation of the AAPM and became a chapter in it.

Raphex: In 1968, in order to assist the training of residents in the various radiological physics specialties, RAMPS appointed a committee to prepare an examination on radiological physics. This examination was administered on a voluntary basis to radiological residents in the city at a session held at the New York Academy of Medicine with the cooperation of the New York Roentgen Ray Society. The response was so enthusiastic that this examination has become an annual event. It is now being used throughout the United States through the courtesy of RAMPS and of the AAPM. Teaching has always been an important activity of the medical physicist in his/her institution and the establishment of this examination procedure was a method of assisting the education of residents in the physical aspects of radiology.

Medical Physics, Vol. 25, No. 7, July 1998, Part 2 pages 1240-1241, reproduced here with the permission of the AAPM.