RADIATION PROTECTION AND MEDICAL-PRACTICE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HEALTH PHYSICISTS AND THE HEALTH-PHYSICS SOCIETY

This paper broadly examines the historical development of radiation pr otection in medical practice through an examination of the interaction s of those concerned with radiation protection and medical practice wi th emphasis on the last half century and on the role played by health physicists and the Health Physics Society. Included is a brief discuss ion of the relevant activities of various federal agencies and other o rganizations including the Atomic Energy Commission and successors and the U.S. Public Health Service; the National Council on Radiation Pro tection and Measurements and International Commission on Radiological Protection; and the Health Physics Society, American Board of Health P hysics, American Association of Physicists in Medicine, Society of Nuc lear Medicine, and Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors a nd related scientific and professional bodies.