Good morning everyone. My speech is about Mrs Barbara Shields who is the Senior Health Physicist in the Department of Health and Human Services of Tasmania. She saw born in 1950 in Inverness, Scotland. She became interested in physics because she always enjoyed mathematics and physics at school. She considered medicine as a career but I felt it was not scientific enough.
After obtaining a BSc (Hons) in physics and teaching in West Africa for a year with Voluntary Service Overseas, she worked as a medical physicist in a radiotherapy department in Glasgow for about two years. Promotion prospects were bleak without a higher degree. She then changed fields a little - to environmental physics, but still with a radiation theme - to obtain a PhD. A research fellowship and contract university positions followed. Ten years ago, she started work as a health physicist with the Department of Health and Human Services in Hobart and was appointed as Senior Health Physicist in 1992. This work allows Mrs Shields to continue extending her knowledge and understanding of health and environmental effects of radiation and radioactive materials.
Whilst Mrs Shields currently works for in the Department of Health and Human Services, she and heads a small team of health physicists. They are involved in regulating the use of radiation in areas such as medicine, industry and research, to ensure that radiation is used safely. Their work covers all aspects of radiation measurement and control, whether the radiation is from radioactive materials or is produced electrically e.g. in X-ray units or lasers. In particular, health physicists advise on radiation protection and on health effects of radiation exposure. In 2001, Mrs Shields and her team examined a variety of issues. It reviewed guidelines for the disposal of radioactive smoke detectors, the management of terminally ill patients, who as a result of treatment procedures may have levels of radioactivity present at death, and the revised code of practice for the safe transport of radioactive materials.
Barbara Shields
expects that there will always be a job for her as the use of radiation -
whether from radioactive materials or from electrical devices - is prevalent
worldwide. A lot is known about the health effects of radiation and radioactive
materials but there is still much to learn. Public awareness of radiation issues
is also increasing. Common topics include nuclear power and its future, mobile
phones, the consequences of radiation accidents and the future of radioactive
waste disposal. Thus, there will be a continued need for health physicists to
ensure that current uses of radiation are safely controlled and to contribute to
future developments.
Source:
*http://www.phys.utas.edu.au/physics/AIP_TasBranch/Profiles/Shields/Shields.htm
*http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/publichealth/radiationcontrol/pdfs/radiationadviscounciltas_annualreport00-01.pdf
*http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/publichealth/radiationcontrol/pdfs/radiationadviscounciltas_annualreport01-02.pdf
