Membership

Welcome

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 are valid for 2013.

Membership Categories & Requirements

• Full:
  Dues $385 (plus $50 application fee)
  Dues Years 1 - 4 $335 (plus $50 application fee)
  

  Full Membership is open to individuals who possesses an earned graduate degree in the Physical or Biological Sciences, Computer Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, or Engineering from a college, university or program accredited by one of the organizations recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (or its successors), or an equivalent foreign degree. Applicants must be engaged in professional, research, or academic activity related to applications of physics in medicine and biology. This may include qualified individuals from such nontraditional medical physics associated fields as computer science and engineering and clinical or bioengineering. Applicants must attest that they will abide by the AAPM Code of Ethics and should have an interest in the purposes of this corporation

  • To promote the application of physics to medicine and biology.
  • To encourage interest and training in medical physics and related fields.
  • To prepare and to disseminate technical information in medical physics and related fields.)
  Applicants for Full membership will not need to satisfy any post degree work/experience requirements to be approved. Applications shall be supported by two Full and/or Emeritus Members in good standing who have personal knowledge of the applicant.
  
  
• Corresponding:
  Dues $154* (electronic Medical Physics Journal only) (plus $50 application fee)
  Corresponding Membership is open to those scientists or engineers residing outside North America who qualify for, but are not interested in, Full membership.
  *Paper copy of the Medical Physics Journal is available for an additional $120 per year
  
  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 $154 (electronic Medical Physics Journal only) (plus $50 application fee)
  International Affiliation is open 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.
  *Paper copy of the Medical Physics Journal is available for an additional $120 per year
  
  
• Resident:
  Dues $116 (plus $50 application fee)
  Resident Membership is open to Residents in CAMPEP Accredited Residency Programs. Individuals shall be a Resident and shall provide an annual attestation from a program director of a CAMPEP Accredited Residency Program that they are currently eligible for Resident Membership on that basis.
  
  
• Junior:
  Dues $116 (plus $50 application fee)
  Individuals shall be a Post-doctoral Student, a Resident in a Non-CAMPEP accredited program, 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 $385 (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 $39 (plus $25 application fee)
  Dues Waived 1st Year
  The individual shall be an Undergraduate or Graduate Student on a full- or part-time basis who is enrolled in a degree program in the Physical or Biological Sciences, Computer Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, or Engineering (which may include a work-study program) at an accredited college or university who has an interest in applications of physics in medicine and biology and who is not otherwise employed in the applications of physics in medicine and biology. Students shall provide annual attestation from their program director that they are currently eligible for Student Membership.
  
  
• Emeritus:
  Emeritus membership is intended for members who have completed a career in medical physics and have retired from the field of medical physics. Applicants must have been a Full member of the AAPM for 10+ consecutive years and be over the age of 55.
  *Paper copy of the Medical Physics Journal is available for an additional $65 per year

Benefits of Membership

• 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 and International Affiliate who need to opt-in to receive the papercopy) 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 and Affiliate are granted access to the AAPM peer-reviewed, scientific journal, Medical Physics Journal online. Full, Resident, Junior, and Associate will receive print issues of Medical Physics according to the quarter in which they join. All other categories of Membership and Affiliation may subscribe to the print version of the journal for a small additional fee.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Career Services: AAPM maintains a Career Services, 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 Site: All of the above information AND MORE is available at AAPM Online. There is a section for Members Only and a section of general information. The AAPM application can be found here. Members have access to the Online Membership Directory, the Online Career Services, the Online Medical Physics Journal, and other Members Only sections.

New Member Instructions

1. 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 go here. 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.
   
   
2. If you are applying for Resident 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 CAMPEP Accredited Program Director.
   
   
3. If you are applying for Junior 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 ONE Full Member.
   
   
4. 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.) A new Student Member accepted for membership in the first three quarters of the year will have dues for that calendar year waived. A new Student Member accepted for membership in the last quarter of the year will have dues for the next calendar year waived. The application fee is required. A student membership process occurs each year. An attestation by your advisor (for undergraduate) or a Full Member (for all other students), must submitted to the headquarters office annually by March 1st of the current dues year. Failure to obtain attestation will result in cancellation of membership and a dues renewal will not be generated. Email notifications regarding attestation are sent August-February of each year.
   
   
5. Choose the appropriate New Member Application Form.
   
   
6. Provide the requested information as comprehensively as possible. All applications must be submitted in the English language.
   
   
7. 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.
   
   
8. 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
   
   
9. You will be invoiced for dues after the Membership Committee has approved your application. Dues are pro-rated on a quarterly basis, based on the date that your application is approved:
   
   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 who are entitled to receive Medical Physics Journal in hard copy will recieve back issues beggining with the quarter of their effective date of membership. All other member services are effective when payment is received.
   
   
10. The two recommendation letters should be faxed, 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.
    
    
11. 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.
    
    
12. 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.

Change of Status Member Instructions

1. Each membership type has a separate application. Please answer the questions on the web site to determine the appropriate application. There is no application fee for a change of status.
   
   
2. Applications for Full Membership, Associate Membership, and Corresponding Membership require letters from two Members and/or Emeritus Members in good standing who shall have personal knowledge of the applicant.
   
   
3. 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.
   
   
4. Provide the requested information as comprehensively as possible. All applications must be submitted in the English language.
   
   
5. 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.
   
   
6. You will be invoiced for dues after the Membership Committee has approved your application. An applicant accepted for membership within the first three quarters of the current calendar year will begin membership effective January 1 of that year. An applicant accepted for membership in the last quarter of the current calendar year will begin membership effective January 1 of the next calendar year.
   
   
7. The two recommendation letters should be faxed, 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.
   
   
8. 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) You will be notified by e-mail of the Committee’s decision. Please allow sixty days for processing once your application is complete. Your membership benefits will begin after your dues are received and processed.