Impact of Medical Physics Discussion (1 Viewer)

[Wincannon]

Hey all,

Recently got an assessment task where I have to write a short piece to ASSESS the 'Impacts of medical applications of Physics on society', and was just hoping to get a bit of a discussion of this happening, just to see if anyone can add in some ideas I haven't thought of

Anyway, to start off, I'm curious as to whether my ideas are relevant... I can think of lots of things related to cheaper diagnosis, non-invasive diagnosis, shorter recovery times due to keyhole surgery and things like that, but is that an impact on society?

(PS. I'm not after notes, I can find them on my own, so please don't drown me in links to them XD Hoping to actually discuss this with some people who do Med Phys, there's only one person other than me in my class)

 

[sam64mcd]

Hmm late reply lol. Personally I wanted to do Astro but my class wouldn't let me do my own thing so I have some Medical notes. I have a feeling this will be in the HSC so here are my thoughts:

Assess means make a judgement and show both sides of the argument.

Positive impacts of Medical Physics on society:
~ More accurate imaging, thus more accurate diagnosis
~ Increase use of non-invasive techniques
~ Better quality of life, quicker diagnosis and so the patient is cured before the disease worsens
~ People can live longer, healthier lives

Negative impacts of Medical Physics on society:
~ MRI, PET scans are still very expensive and few hospitals have access to them
~ Ethical implications of Ultrasound - can detect abnormalities in foetus, which may lead to abortion if a foetus is 'defective'
~ Exposure to radiation (X-Ray, CAT, and especially PET)

In conclusion, society has overall benefitted from the advances in Medical Physics.

 

[helper]

Go the next step. Eg Keyhole, surgery requires less recovery time and this means society benefits due to less work hours lost due to surgery etc....