Real-Life Communication
Health physics specialists use communication skills either a little
or a lot, depending on the area they work in. Lab researchers use them a little.
Hospital workers use them a lot.
It makes sense that people skills
are important in an area that deals with the human body.
"When you're
working in a health-related area, that means you're working with people,"
says Genevieve Roessler. She is a retired health physicist. "So you have to
be able to communicate well, through speaking, writing, and in every way."
"You
have to have excellent communication skills because you're doing a lot of
teaching," says Ken Miller. He is the director of health physics at the Hershey
Medical Center. "You're functioning somewhat as a police-type individual,
making sure people do things the right way according to the rules and procedures,
for their own safety."
Besides teaching colleagues, Roessler says that
many health physicists in the profession actively participate in the education
system, helping high school teachers conduct units on radiation safety.
"When
there's a section in a textbook that deals with nuclear-related things, generally
teachers won't touch it without an expert at hand," says Roessler.
"So
our people will go into the school and help them teach that section. We'll
write information that teachers can use, as well as have an extensive teacher's
workshop program where we take them through all the basics of the field."
You
are a health physicist responding to a teacher's request to give a presentation
on the history of health physics. Write an engaging 200-word introduction
to your history lesson, incorporating the following facts:
- Health physics came from the discovery of X-rays and radioactivity in
the late 1800s
- Physicist Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen discovered the X-ray on Nov. 8, 1895,
in Germany
- Scientists and laymen were captivated by the discovery
- The media printed true and false stories about X-rays
- The public was fascinated by the fact that X-rays pass through matter
and produce a fuzzy photographic plate image of the bones
- The scientific community was fascinated by the significance of radiation
-- it has a wavelength shorter than light and meant new horizons for the study
of physics and structure of matter
- Early in 1886, medical radiographs were used in Europe and America to
guide surgeons in their work