Society News Archive

Join us in Spokane, Washington, for a full slate of professional-enrichment opportunities before and during the 61^st Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society (HPS). Register for the meeting and find the preliminary program on the HPS website. 

The week kicks off with the Professional Development School (PDS)  "Decontamination and Decommissioning—Case Studies." This PDS will be held on Thursday and Friday, 14 and 15 July at the Davenport Grand Hotel (the conference hotel). The PDS features an impressive array of topics presented by nationally and internationally renowned speakers. You can find more information about the PDS in the April issue of Health Physics News (page 11).

The PDS is followed by three full-day courses on Saturday, 16 July, put on by the American Academy of Health Physics (AAHP). 

• "The Role of a Radiological Operations Support Specialist (ROSS)" – presented by William Allen. This AAHP course, adapted from the larger training curriculum currently being developed for radiological operations support specialist (ROSS) certification, consists of both instruction and group activities to help develop skills that will be needed in a radiological emergency by the ROSS.
• "Lessons in Communication From HPS Ask the Experts" – presented by Linnea Wahl, CHP. Communicating about radiation and its risks is arguably one of the hardest things a radiation pro­tection professional does. How can we communicate difficult information successfully? We will share the lessons we've learned, illustrated by examples drawn from Ask the Experts questions and answers, on effective communication.
• "How Randomness Affects Understanding of Radiation Risk Assessments and Decisions for Radiation Safety" – presented by Ray Johnson. In this course, discussions and several tools will be presented for effective risk communication in the face of randomness in measurement uncertainties, risk assessments, and safety decisions.

Sunday through Thursday, numerous Professional Enrichment Program (PEP) courses will be offered, covering the spectrum of health physics. Courses begin Sunday with PEP 1-A, "EH&S Boot Camp for Radiation Safety Professionals" and conclude Thursday afternoon with PEP Th-5, "A Million Ways to Fill a Bottle." Sunday will feature three sessions, each containing eight course offerings. The opportunities continue throughout the week, with five courses at each of the noontime PEP sessions. The PEP listing can be found in the May issue of Health Physics News (pages 8–9).

If that isn't enough professional enrichment for you, continuing education lectures (CELs) are offered each morning before the technical sessions begin. Topics range from "Strategies for Keeping Your Radiation Safety Program on Course in a Sea of Constant Change" (CEL-1) to "Channeling Richard Feynman: How Lessons From the Great 20^th Century Physicist Can Inform and Inspire Great Health Physics in the 21^st Century" (CEL-6) and much more!

Be sure to take advantage of these professional education opportunities—see you in Spokane!