25 years of AAPM

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine was established in 1958 to promote scientific communication among practicing physicists in medicine. Today the AAPM has a membership of over 2000 and is the largest organized body of medical physicists in any country. Members of the AAPM, through their research and development activities and as important participants of a medical professional team, play a significant role in promoting the delivery of high‐quality health care to the public. Medical physicists have made important contributions to medical practice, especially in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Early in this century, physicists played a vital role in developing the use of radiation for the eradication of cancerous tissues. Today medical physicists are working on diagnostic imaging and the application of computers to medicine. John Laughlin discusses some of the history of these developments in his article on page 26, and Paul Moran, Jerome Nickles and James Zagzebski describe the current state of medical imaging on page 36. Medical physicists are also involved in areas such as audiology, opthalmology, endocrinology, physiology, cardiology, physical therapy and general medical instrumentation. Because of the impact of advances in high technology, medical physics has grown rapidly, and today it is recognized as an essential discipline in discipline in medicine.

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