News Archive

Jess Joyce, HPS Mentorship Committee Chair

Participants in the inaugural "Challenging Health Physics" competition relax after handing in their responses.
Photo courtesy of Jess Joyce

Left to right, HPS Mentorship Committee Chair Jess Joyce and HPS Board Members Jama VanHorne-Sealy and Kendall Berry score participant's responses after day one of the mentorship challenge.
Photo courtesy of Jess Joyce

Day two of the "Challenging Health Physics" competition
Photo courtesy of Jess Joyce

At this year's 2023 Health Physics Society (HPS) Winter Workshop on Internal Dosimetry in Corvallis, Oregon, 6–9 February, a new networking activity was offered over the lunch hour Monday and Tuesday to create connections between attendees. While juggling slices of pizza, teams of two to three participants competed to solve written "Challenging Health Physics" problems with an internal dosimetry focus. The questions ranged from defining "intake" and "uptake" to estimating committed effective dose to a worker based on results from a lapel air sampler. Some participants were actively studying for certification exams, looking for additional content to sharpen their skills, while others were experienced mentors in the internal dosimetry field, providing guidance and additional insight to the discussions.

With the most complete and accurate responses, winners on Monday included John Harris, Darin Reid, and Kyle Maloy. Winners on Tuesday (all scoring 100%!) included Ben Williams, Darin Reid, Zach Wiren, and David Stuenkel.

This activity was organized by the HPS Mentorship Committee, with questions provided by Deepesh Poudel and Thomas Johnson. Additional thanks are due to the HPS midyear Program Committee and the Burk and Associates team for coordinating the venue, the HPS Board members who graded questions, and the Oregon State University student chapter for donating prizes.