Timeline: The Birth of Medical Physics Acts and Institutions

1900

• The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS), “the first and oldest radiology society in the United States,” is founded.

1909

• The The Institut du Radium (Radium Institute) of Paris is founded.

1915

• The Western Roentgen Society (precursor to the Radiological Society of North America [RSNA]) is established.

1916

• The American Radium Society (ARS), “the oldest society devoted to the study and treatment of cancer,” is founded.

1920

• The Western Roentgen Society is renamed to the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

1924

• The American College of Radiology (ACR) is founded in Ohio.

1928

• The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is created to address the subject of radioprotection.

1934

• The American Board of Radiology (ABR) is incorporated in Washington, D.C.

1958

• The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is established.
• The American Club of Therapeutic Radiologists is founded. This organization would later become the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO).

1978

• The American Brachytherapy Society (ABS) is founded.

1979

• The Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine (CCPM) is established.

1980

• The European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) is founded.

1987

• The American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) is established to certify medical physicists and related professionals in Radiation Therapy and Diagnostic Imaging Physics.

1989

• The Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP) is formed.

1992

• The Mammography Quality Standards Act becomes law in the US, establishing the essential role of qualified medical physicists in mammography quality assurance.

2001

• The American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) forms a working agreement with the American Board of Radiology (ABR): the ABMP offers certification in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Physics (MRIMRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, is a method of taking 3D images using magnetic fields. Physics) and Medical Health Physics (MHP) while the ABR offers certification in Diagnostic Medical Physics, Nuclear Medical Physics, and Therapeutic Medical Physics.