A 30-Year Radiation Safety Prospectus Describing Organizational Drivers, Program Activities, and Outcomes

Abstract

In 1992, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Radiation Safety Program began assembling data on a monthly basis that described various program drivers and associated activities. A summary of the data was assembled on an annual basis and shared with the professional health physics community at the 10-y and 20-y intervals. With the inclusion of 1991 data points, three decades (1991 to 2020) of data have now been collected and summarized into an updated program prospectus. The prospectus models a commercial enterprise prospectus provided to potential investors and displays various program indicator parameters. The consistent formatting of the data affords an easily digestible and succinct snapshot of program activities and trends. Various program stakeholder’s feedback regarding this data continues to be well received. Additionally, UTHealth provides increasing support for UT Physicians clinics throughout the greater Houston, Texas area. The prospectus allows succinct description of the drivers of the program, revealed interesting trends, and has identified training needs for both existing personnel and academic programs that support the radiation protection sciences.

The Influence of Variations in Synthesis Conditions on the Phase Composition, Strength and Shielding Characteristics of CuBi2O4 Films

“…There are many reasons for this; first of all, the increased use of various sources of ionizing radiation (non-natural origin) in various industries (energy, medicine, etc.) leads to an increase in the likelihood of exposure to radiation on living organisms, which can lead to negative consequences, including mutations, diseases and deterioration of health [4,5]. At the same time, artificial sources of ionizing radiation are increasingly used in medicine (X-ray machines, gamma knives, proton and heavy ion accelerators for the treatment of tumors), which requires increasing the level of protection from exposure to ionizing radiation for personnel who are directly involved in their maintenance and operation, since classical traditional methods of protection in these cases cannot always be used [6,7].…”

Radiation Safety Education Adjustment in the Future: An HBCU’s Response to Trends in Health Physics

“…A paper in Volume 122 from the February 2022 issue of the Health Physics Journal (Gutierrez and Emery 2022) covered nearly three decades of data from 1991 to 2020 on key performance indicators consistent with an investor prospectus, which is typically found in commercial enterprises. The results of these data have been compiled into reports and provided to various institutional stakeholders within The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Radiation Safety Program (formerly known as UTHSCH) (Emery and McCrary 2003; Emery and Gutierrez 2014; Gutierrez and Emery 2022). The authors noted that the UTHealth Radiation Safety staff performs surveys, radioactive material package deliveries, and distributes personnel dosimetry devices.…”

Response to Mark Harvey Regarding the Educational Curricula for Students Interested in Health Physics

“…As Harvey mentions, here at UTHealth, we have experienced a significant shift in the use of radiation sources over the past 30 y, from mainly benchtop research with radioactive materials to an increased use of x-ray producing devices and lasers (Gutierrez and Emery 2022). We are similarly supportive of Harvey’s comments about specifically supporting HBCU institutions in this regard, which is an effort that could be led by the Health Physics Society.…”