(Rajni Verma, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Radiological Physics, SMS Medical college & Hospital, India)
This book is a literary journey of passion, thrills, adventures, wonders, and velour in medical physics. This will give you a true example of how one can feel all these emotions with the real-life stories of our pioneers in medical physics. It consists of twenty-two chapters divided into six major parts and also has a prologue and epilogue like a novel. In other words, it is a storybook of medical physics.
This book is edited by Jacob Van Dyk and has twenty-two contributors who have written the twenty-two chapters for this book. These chapters are about their real-life events, with an emphasis on their scientific significance and personal experiences around them. All contributors are starworts of medical physics. It’s their personal experiences as individuals that make this book truly inspirational and fun to read at the same time.
One of the many facts that has amazed me is the cover picture of this book, the MRI scan of Jacob Van Dyk himself. The fun side is that the editor has gone the extra mile and volunteered for the scan to just be true about everything. He mentioned that the idea of this book evolved from a radio program that was about telling the stories of one’s life for a better understanding of each other. Even the prologue of the book is spell-binding.
Whenever we talk about medical physics history, we always look at X-ray and radium discovery as starting points, but the interesting fact is that even before these events, there was someone who was already working in a job position as a medical physicist, a French physician named Jean Noel Halle. He was appointed professor of medical physics and hygiene at the Paris School of Health in 1794. Halle was instrumental in the development of the subject with the inclusion of medicine significant application of physics in the curriculum of medicine studies. David Thwaites has beautifully summarized the history of medical physics and given the answer to the most asked question to date “Medical Physicists, what exactly do they do?”
The editor has tried to cover a large geographical area with its contributors and their stories. This has increased its relevance to professionals from every part of the world. The contributors are David Thwaites, Jacob Van Dyk, Peter R. Almond, Gary T. Barnes, Arthur L. Boyer, James A. Purdy, John W. Wong, Paul L. Carson, C. Clifton Ling, Terry M. Peters, Stephen R. Thomas, Marcel Van Herk, Cari Borras, Carlos E. De Almeida, Arun Chougule, Jerry J. Battista, Tomas Kron, Martin Yaffe, Aaron Fenster, Maryellen L. Giger, Thomas Rock Mackie, and Radhe Mohan. All of them are well-known figures and leaders in the field of medical physics. Medical physics, as a subject, still strives for recognition in healthcare. Most of us faced this issue in our day-to-day professional lives; therefore, it was quite encouraging and motivating to read about the real-life struggles and challenges faced by our teachers and guides. Most importantly, they faced them and came out as winners.
There was a thrilling story shared by Cari Borras. She titled it “the scariest day of my life.” As a young medical physicist, she was assigned to travel to El Salvador as part of an IAEA mission to investigate a radiation accident. The country was in the middle of a bloody civil war, and the surroundings felt very unsafe for travel and work. The investigation was difficult as the device was not a medical irradiator and the operators had received large radiation doses. Her journey to the airport was chilling with the sounds of gunfire, locked doors, and sounds of approaching troops. The story has given me goosebumps.
Another interesting event was shared by Peter R. Almond. Which is hilarious, and about the visit to Munich, Germany, along with his wife. They got lost in the city, very new to them, with no understanding of the local language, and at odd times. It’s the early 1970s, when a few groups from the US and Europe were working on the development of electron beam therapy and tried to meet often to discuss results and their understanding with each other. In one of such meetings, they had this hilarious experience. He also shared a perfect example that emphasized the proverb, “Think before you speak.”. It was quite interesting to read about the phase of commercial development of a dual-energy linear accelerator.
James A. Purdy, Gary T. Barnes, and John W. Wong, along with most of the contributors, shared their stories about how they came to medical physics. How they made their own way as professionals, researchers, and inventors. It’s interesting to know how amazing their stories are. These stories themselves narrated the story of medical physics and its evolving process.
There is a noteworthy fact that out of twenty contributors, the majority are from developed countries, except for two or three from developing countries with more struggle and a lack of recognition. Establishing self and medical physics in these countries was a daunting task.
Another story of passion and positivity through a constant journey of hardship is shared by Arun Chougule, one of the most celebrated medical physicists in the Asian region, a developing region. As a medical physicist, teacher, academician, administrator, and social worker, he touched many hearts. As a young medical physicist, he faced numerous professional challenges when he was trying to start radiotherapy services in Udaipur, a city in Rajasthan state, India. It’s really inspiring to know how he tackled those challenges in unconventional ways. A journey from young medical physicist to pro-vice chancellor of a state health university is full of ups and downs.
The story from Tomas Kron is something that is felt by every struggling student who is new to medical physics, with different magnitudes. He had explored various professional options, from being a basketball coach to a grape picker in vineyards, working at a local TV station, and tutoring high school students. To get settled with his wife, who’s from Australia, he entered the field of medical physics in Australia in his thirties. After which a glorious career started, he had worked with Jake Van Dyk’s group in Canada when Tomotherapy was just an idea and the group was looking forward to making it a reality. The whole chapter will make you realize that our pioneers were also met with struggles and challenges; however, it was their passion, patience, and undying spirit that made them different from others.
It’s really difficult to touch every story in the book due to word limitations, but I should conclude that every story is spell-binding. It can be said clearly that it’s not a science book; it is a book around science. It is a must-read for students, professionals, or anybody who wants to know about the journey of this amazing science and the people around it.