Baptist Health Paducah Medical Physicist earns national recognition for his expertise
PADUCAH, KY (January 17, 2024) - Many will never know what happens behind the scenes to ensure the safest and most effective radiation therapy, but behind the curtain are two critical individuals: the Baptist Health Paducah medical physicists. This team’s expertise not only impacts the community by being the only medical physicist program in McCracken County, but also extends nationwide through a recent recognition.
Baptist Health Paducah’s Chief Medical Physicist, Robert Gandy, MS, has been selected to join the American Board of Radiology's Medical Physics Continuing Certification Advisory Committee (CC-AC). The CC-AC, formed earlier this year, aims to evaluate and enhance the ABR's continuing certification program for future medical physicists.
“This is the greatest privilege of my professional career,” said Gandy. “The ABR plays an important role in healthcare by offering board certification for physicians and medical physicists. The public looks to board certification as the best measure of professional knowledge and skill. I am honored to serve on the ABR Medical Physics Continuing Certification Advisory Committee in support of these high standards.”
Modern radiation therapy involves sophisticated technology, and the medical physicist plays a vital role with no room for error in its execution. By utilizing high-energy linear accelerators, Baptist Health Paducah delivers radiation therapy with exceptional precision. These accelerators emit a focused beam of radiation to eradicate cancer cells. With advanced technology, the patient's position is aligned using CT images, allowing for sub-millimeter accuracy in targeting cancerous tumors while minimizing damage to healthy tissue.
The role of a medical physicist is crucial in ensuring the safe and accurate administration of radiation therapy. The medical physicist calibrates the linear accelerators used for patient treatments, designs radiation treatment plans using CT images and establishes quality assurance processes to guarantee precise delivery of the prescribed radiation dose to the cancer site.
After completing his studies at the University of Kentucky, Gandy started his professional journey at Baptist Health Paducah in 1994 until 1998. After a stint pursuing other job opportunities as a medical physicist, Gandy returned to Baptist Health Paducah as Chief Medical Physicist in 2007.
Baptist Health Paducah is proud to have Robert Gandy represent its institution on the American Board of Radiology's Medical Physics Continuing Certification Advisory Committee. His expertise and dedication will contribute to the ongoing improvement of the ABR's certification program, ensuring the highest standards in radiation therapy.