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Nuclear Physician |
Career OverviewIn the field of internal medicine, nuclear medicine is the discipline that uses radioactive materials to diagnose and treat a full range of diseases and injuries.
The basic principle of the field is scintigraphy, the process whereby trained physicians use radionuclides to produce images of the solid organs in the body. The process is similar to radiography, the x-ray technique, but it allows trained medical personnel to review physiological and metabolic processes in the body, rather than the basic physiologic image created by x-ray techniques.
Nuclear medicine physicians apply a range of radionuclides to target specific organs and obtain anatomic and physiologic information; the combining radioactive compounds are called radiopharmaceuticals.
The physician introduces radiopharmaceuticals to a patient by injection, inhalation, or ingestion, depending on the organ or organs that the physician is interested in reviewing.
Once the patient has received a dosage of radionuclides, they begin to decay. The isotopes contained in the compound emit radiation, gamma rays, which a gamma camera or PET (positron emission tomography) scanner detects.
On the gamma camera or the PET scanner screen, scintillations produced by the gamma rays create an image, which the nuclear medicine physician interprets to assist with the diagnosis and treatment of a patient.
Although it is a relatively new science, using radiation in this manner is safe, non-invasive, and, most of all, effective at assisting in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. The amount of radiation received by patients is often less than the amount administered during an x-ray procedure.
Although nuclear medicine serves primarily for diagnosis, it can also assist in the treatment of a number of conditions. In-vitro procedures assist with competitive binding and radioimmunoassay techniques to measure peptide hormones, drugs, and other substances. Nuclear medicine physicians apply radioisotopes for therapeutic purposes, to treat thyroid cancer, certain drug dycrasias, solid tumors, and painful bone metastases.
To qualify as a nuclear medicine physician, a minimum of eighteen months of clinical nuclear medicine specialist training is usually required; training focuses on the allied health sciences such as medical nuclear physics, radiopharmaceutical chemistry, radiation biology, instrumentation, and computer sciences.
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Career RequirementsA nuclear medicine physician must fulfil the education and experience requirements established by federal and state government to practice medicine.
For entry into any education program to become a specialist in nuclear medicine, a doctor of medicine degree is required from an approved school of medicine. It is also mandatory that candidates complete at least five years of additional graduate medical education in nuclear medicine before practicing independently.
To work as a nuclear medicine physician, an individual must complete four years of medical school, a one-year internship, and four years of residency in nuclear medicine. Opportunities for additional fellowship training exist in arrange of other areas in internal medicine, including cardiology, neurology, and pediatrics.
Due to the vastness and diversity of the practical knowledge required for a physician to perform in nuclear medicine, rotations in different areas of medical practice and internships in these areas may become increasingly significant to the facilitation of professional development.
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Job OutlookMany health care insurance plan providers are under considerable pressure from customers and physicians to increase patient access to specialists.
That said, the job outlook for nuclear medicine physicians is extremely promising: the field is thriving in its diversity. It offers qualified medical doctors the opportunity to deal directly with patients, act as policy makers, consultants, and researchers into the application of a new and developing science.
The field allows physicians to be at the forefront of cutting-edge research in a field that combines chemistry, pharmacology, physiology, and biochemistry and applies advanced knowledge on a molecular scale.
The field looks set to remain particularly lucrative, dynamic, and open to qualified and enthusiastic graduates of medical schools. A surge in the demand for qualified nuclear medicine physicians is likely, if not predictable, and the field itself will only prove more rewarding as a career track as it advances, allowing for more precise and earlier diagnosis of patient conditions, and also facilitating advanced forms of therapy that may improve patient outcomes.
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Career TrackThe technicalities of the field determine that most recently qualified nuclear medicine physicians begin their careers under a supervisor with considerable experience in the field.
After developing and demonstrating competence within the field, nuclear medicine physicians may advance as practitioners, to become specialists in a particular area, such as cardiology or endocrinology, or they may advance to become a general supervisor for other nuclear physicians with whom they practice in either a hospital department or in a specialist clinic. At the present time it is rare for nuclear medicine physicians to operate out of a private practice.
Opportunities also exist in administration, research, and teaching depending on the interests and qualifications of each individual.
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CompensationThe average reported salary for a typical nuclear medicine physician in the United States is approximately $230,780 per year. Depending upon their qualifications and experience, most nuclear medicine physicians in the United States earn between $200,000 and $300,000 per year.
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