General Information & New Applicant Instructions
Purpose: A small group of physicists formed the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) in 1958 "to promote the application of physics to medicine and biology, to encourage interest and training in medical physics and related fields, and to prepare and to disseminate technical information in medical physics and related fields."
Membership: All memberships are renewed annually and follow the calendar year schedule. Status of membership in the AAPM should reflect a current Member’s career position. Members are required to change their membership status as their position in the medical physics profession changes. The dues amounts listed below are valid for 2007. Please contact the AAPM for dues amounts after 2008.
Full:
Dues $285 (plus $50 application fee)
Offered to those scientists or engineers who define themselves to be working in the field of medical physics including medical engineering and bioengineering and who are desirous of affiliating with the AAPM and meet the training and experience requirements in the By-Laws. This may include qualified individuals from such nontraditional medical physics associated fields as computer science and engineering and clinical or bioengineering
Applicants for Full membership will not need to satisfy any post degree work/experience requirements to be approved.
Corresponding:
Dues $114 (electronic Medical Physics Journal only) (plus $50 application fee)
Dues $185 (electronic & papercopy Medical Physics Journal) (plus $50 application fee)
Offered to those scientists or engineers residing outside North America who qualify for, but are not interested in, Full membership. It is an applicant’s decision to choose between Corresponding I and II.
A Corresponding Member shall not be a permanent resident of the United States, or a temporary resident for more than six months.
International Affiliate
Dues $114 (electronic Medical Physics Journal only) (plus $50 application fee)
Dues $185 (electronic & papercopy Medical Physics Journal) (plus $50 application fee)
Offered to those Medical Physicists residing in developing countries, who are interested in the Association but who do not meet the degree requirements for membership or who are unable to obtain required letters of support for membership.
Junior:
Dues $200 (plus $50 application fee)
Junior Membership is open to individuals who are preparing to meet the requirements for Full membership. Individuals shall be a Resident, Post-doctoral Student or Fellow on a full- or part-time basis in a medical physics training program and shall provide an annual attestation from a Full Member of the Association that they are currently eligible for Junior Membership on that basis.
Associate:
Dues $285 (plus $50 application fee)
Associate Membership is appropriate for individuals working in areas of physics where there is no direct application to medicine or biology. It is also appropriate for individuals engaged in other than developmental aspects of equipment for biological or medical use.
Student:
Dues $29* (plus $25 application fee)
The individual shall be a Graduate Student on a full- or part-time basis in a medical physics program, or shall be an Undergraduate Student in an academic program in science, engineering or a related field program, and shall provide an annual attestation that they are currently eligible for Student Membership on that basis. For Graduate Students the attestation shall be provided by a Member of the AAPM. For Undergraduate Students the attestation shall be provided by the program director.
*The Medical Physics Journal is available for an additional $40 per year
Emeritus:
Emeritus membership is intended for members who have completed a career in medical physics and have retired from the field of medical physics. You must also have been a Full or Associate member of the AAPM for 10+ consecutive years and be over the age of 55.
AIP and IOMP Affiliation: The AAPM is a member society of the AIP (American Institute of Physics) and the IOMP (International Organization of Medical Physics); as such, AAPM Members (except Corresponding I) receive the AIP’s journal, Physics Today, free with their paid membership, as well as discounted subscriptions to dozens of other physics publications, including Physics in Medicine and Biology and Computing in Science & Engineering. Those already receiving Physics Today through other AIP membership(s) will not receive two copies.
Committee Participation: The AAPM has more than 100 councils, committees, subcommittees, and task groups that meet at least twice a year to discuss, determine, research, and/or publish information important to the profession of medical physics and to its practitioners. The AAPM has published over seventy task group reports; they are published in Medical Physics when appropriate, or published separately and mailed to all AAPM members in the subsequent monthly mailing. Each year, the AAPM President-Elect calls for Members to request committee assignments for the following year. The standard duration for a committee appointment is one three-year term.
Medical Physics Journal: Each AAPM Member, with the exception of the Corresponding I, Emeritus and Student Members who choose not to, will receive issues of the AAPM peer-reviewed, scientific journal, Medical Physics according to the quarter in which they join.
Meetings: The AAPM holds an Annual Meeting each year during the summer. This five-day meeting includes scientific and continuing education sessions, technical exhibits, and paper displays. Please contact the AAPM for more information. At the RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) Meeting each autumn, designated AAPM Members are responsible for the physics scientific program; as such, the RSNA invites all AAPM individual Members to register at a reduced fee. For RSNA Meeting registration information, please contact the RSNA at (630) 571-2670.
Membership Directory: The on-line AAPM Membership Directory contains the current information for each calendar year, including names of executive officers, dates for upcoming meetings, lists of the Board of Directors and Regional Chapter officers, lists of each existing council, committee, and task group and its members, and the current version of the AAPM By-Laws and Rules. Members are requested each quarter to correct their “directory address” (which is not necessarily the same as the mailing address) for the alphabetical and geographical listings in the directory and the web site.
Placement Bulletin: AAPM maintains a Placement Service, the AAPM Bluebook, that allows AAPM Members to search or browse position listings online. The powerful Job Search feature allows members to specify a search criteria to be saved so that each time a new ad that meets that criteria is approved and published online, an email notification will be sent via email.
Regional Chapter Affiliation: There are 20 AAPM Regional Chapters. Each chapter holds its own meetings, elects its own officers, and sends a Board Representative to the national Board of Directors’ meetings. Individuals who have interests similar to the objectives of the AAPM but who are not eligible or do not wish to be members of the AAPM may be members of one or more Regional Chapters.
Salary Survey: Every Spring, the AAPM requests salary and occupation data from each of its North American members. The data is analyzed and posted online in June for member-only access.
Summer School: Each Summer, the AAPM hosts a Summer School on a university campus in North America, focusing on applications in medical physics. The subject alternates between diagnostic and therapy topics from year to year. Please contact the AAPM for more information on our next Summer School.
Web Page: All of the above information AND MORE is available at AAPM On-Line. There is a section for Members Only and a section of general information. This application packet is also available. Members have access to the Online Membership Directory, the Online Placement Bulletin, the Online Medical Physics Journal, and other Members Only sections.
Instructions
- If you are completing the New Member Application, follow all instructions below, which include obtaining two letters of recommendation from two Full Members of the AAPM. The letters of reference should include the membership category the applicant is requesting, validation that applicant is currently working in the Medical Physics field, and validation of education/experience indicated on their membership application. Additional information may be included if desired. (Your application requires you to choose two Full members who will write your recommendation letters.) To verify membership status of your references, please visit: http://www.aapm.org/memb/full/. The recommendation letters may be sent by mail, e-mail or fax with sponsor signatures. Applications will not be processed until both letters of recommendation have arrived at the AAPM Headquarters Office. It is the applicant’s responsibility to inquire about missing recommendation letters. All information required to complete an application must be received within 60 days of receipt of the application or it will automatically be withdrawn. The applicant must then resubmit all required documents including an additional application fee.
- If you are applying for Student Membership, follow all instructions below, except obtaining two letters of recommendation from two Full AAPM Members. You will need, instead, an e-mail or hard copy letter from your graduate medical physics program director. (Your application requires you to enter your Graduate Medical Physics Program Director’s information.) First year student member dues are waived, the application fee is not. A student membership verification form must be submitted to the headquarters office annually by March 1st of the current dues year. Failure to submit verification will result in cancellation of membership and a dues renewal will not be generated. Email notifications are sent August-February of each year. The form can be downloaded from the website.
- On the New Member Application Form, check the appropriate box for your requested membership status.
- Provide the requested information as comprehensively as possible. All applications must be submitted in the English language.
- You may fax or mail a hard copy bibliography or CV, but it is not required. Do not exceed one single sided 8½ x 11" sheet.
- There is a non-refundable application fee of $50 ($25 Student) which is used to defray the cost of processing. The application requires you to pay this fee via credit card: Visa, MasterCard or American Express. To pay by check or International Postal Money Order, please print out the electronic invoice and mail to: AAPM, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, Maryland 20740-3846
- You will be invoiced for dues after the Membership Committee has approved your application. All AAPM memberships are effective from the quarter in which you pay your membership dues. Dues are pro-rated on a quarterly basis:
January thru March: 100% of dues
April thru June 75%: of dues
July thru September: 50% of dues
October thru December: the choice of 25% for last part of year or 100% of dues applied to the following year
New Members are entitled to receive all hard copy back issues of the Medical Physics Journal starting the quarter of their effective date of membership.
- The two recommendation letters should either be e-mailed or a hard copy mailed to: Jennifer Hudson, AAPM, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, Maryland 20740-3846 or faxed to (301) 209-0862.
- Your application will be reviewed by the AAPM Membership Committee and a membership category will be recommended. It is possible that the membership category which the Membership Committee recommends will not match the one of your choice. (See requirements above) You will be notified by e-mail of the Committee’s decision. Please allow sixty days for processing. Your membership benefits will begin after your dues are received and processed.
- As a pending Member of the AAPM, (which begins after you receive written acknowledgment that your application has been received at the AAPM Headquarters Office) you are permitted to attend the AAPM Annual Meeting, the AAPM Summer School, or the RSNA Meeting at the AAPM Member rates. You may only attend one AAPM function at the Member rate while a pending Member.