Code of ethics for the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (Revised): Report of Task Group 109

Abstract

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) has established a comprehensive Code of Ethics for its members. The Code is a formal part of AAPM governance, maintained as Professional Policy 24, and includes both principles of ethical practice and the rules by which a complaint will be adjudicated. The structure and content of the Code have been crafted to also serve the much broader purpose of giving practical ethical guidance to AAPM members for making sound decisions in their professional lives. The Code is structured in four major parts: a Preamble, a set of ten guiding Principles, Guidelines that elucidate the application of the Principles in various practice settings, and the formal Complaint process. Guidelines have been included to address evolving social and cultural norms, such as the use of social media and the broadening scope of considerations important in an evolving workplace. The document presented here is the first major revision of the AAPM Code of Ethics since 2008. This revision was approved by the Board of Directors to become effective 1 January 2019.

AAPM Medical physics practice guideline 15.A: Peer review in clinical physics

“… The reviewer must be a QMP according to the AAPM definition. The reviewer should be independent of the incumbent physicist, without a conflict of interest or commitment. Potential or perceived conflicts of interest or bias must be managed in accordance with the AAPM Code of Ethics 11 and any other applicable codes of ethics (e.g., institutional). Avoidable conflicts include not choosing reviewers with the ability to directly affect employment, compensation, promotion, retention, tenure, or funding.…”

Training for the future: Introducing foundational skills necessary to promote patient-centered care practice in medical physics graduate programs

“…[18] It stands to reason that high-quality ethics education, grounded in these principles, is an essential part of patient-centered graduate medical physics education. While Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP) standards and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine’s (AAPM’s) Task Group 159 (TG 159) report provide guidance on topics that should be covered at the graduate and residency levels [12] , [13] , [19] , the style and breadth of ethics training varies widely between medical physics graduate programs [20] . According to a survey of AAPM members conducted in 2012, “60 % of the respondents (827/1377) stated that they had not received ethics/professionalism education during their medical physics training.” [21] The AAPM has additionally formed a new working group on Ethics Coursework Resources to address the gaps that exist in available ethics training resources [22] .…”

Vendor‐provided clinical physics services are a disservice to patients and the medical physics profession

“…Finally, local clinic authority via a clear governance model can play a constructive role, such as the medical director having final say on satisfaction with the clinical physics services and having those services benchmarked against relevant AAPM reports and ACR‐AAPM Technical Standards. And last but not least, every physicist is personally responsible for living up to the Principles in AAPM Code of Ethics, 10 regardless of their employment model.…”

“…This is a “healthy tension” faced by all clinical physicists regardless of their employment model, although I agree it may be felt more acutely when the clinical physicist is employed by the manufacturer of the equipment used in the clinic. The AAPM Code of Ethics 10 clearly states that our primary obligation is to the safety and welfare of the patient. Principle I states “Members must hold as paramount the best interests of the patient under all circumstances”, and Principle X states “Members are professionally responsible and accountable for their practice, attitudes, and actions, including inactions and omissions.” Dr. Wang mentioned that early troubleshooting for a new device often involves clinical physicists who are commissioning the equipment for use in their clinics.…”