Blogging from the AAPM: Of posters, smart people, and my immediate surroundings

A science and health writer blogs about her first day at the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Annual Meeting.

About 3,000 people are attending the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) annual meeting that got underway today in Houston. About 1,240 are medical physicists, 370 are students and 1,035 are exhibitors staffing 131 booths. That’s almost one exhibitor for each physicist!

I didn’t spend time in the exhibit hall today but it’s on my agenda for tomorrow, along with the President’s Symposium, a two-hour “big picture” look at major issues facing the field. Think State of the Union address.

Today I focused on making initial contact with the people I want to interview and attending poster sessions. If you’ve never been to a poster session, here’s how it works:

Researchers submit their work to a scientific committee. Those meeting the criteria of the society are invited to bring the research on a 4’ by 5’ (give or take a foot either way) laminated poster. Researchers are given assigned spots for their poster and a designated time, generally an hour or two, where they are expected to stand in front of the poster and explain it to interested attendees. At some meetings there are thousands of these posters displayed in row after row.

Posters are my favorite part of medical conferences. I’ve been to dozens of meetings and I still think it’s unique and exciting to have an enthusiastic scientist take you on an escorted stroll through their research, stopping to explain a chart, expand on a result and in my case, spell out an acronym.

AAPM also has “moderated poster sessions” where a senior physicist presents a quick summary of half a dozen posters and the authors respond to questions from attendees. It’s a very efficient way to present six studies in 30 minutes, but it leaves me kind of dizzy.

(If you want another perspective and more details about the goings-on at large medical science meetings, visit Medical Conference Blog, written anonymously by a medical journalist.)

One of the PhD researchers today responding to questions about her study was a petite young woman who looked like she could have been in high school instead of someone called “doctor.” This field no droubt draws from the brightest and most tenacious scholars. They presumably ace physics in high school and college, then they toil away on obscure research projects for years, write and defend graduate school and PhD theses, and then study and train some more to gain certification by a medical board. Medical physics is the only non-physician specialty that is approved by a medical board.

Safety appears to be the dominant theme, even more so than new technology, at this year’s AAPM meeting. That’s not surprising considering the attention the media gave to a couple reports highlighting risks from CT scans this past year.

Today I learned about studies on the effectiveness of partial breast irradiation and research that could soon lead to safer pediatric imaging standards, and a medical physicist from the University of Alabama at Birmingham shared his fascinating research into the impact a planned demolition had on sensitive magnetic resonance (MR) imaging equipment next door, as well as his investigations of a half dozen unreported cases of exploding MR magnets that have occurred over the last 10 years.  

The science is hot and so is Houston weather

The weather’s going to hold at a steady 95 degrees and humid all week. There’s not much competing for visitor’s attention outside the AC of the George R. Brown Convention Center. At least not in the immediate vicinity of my foot travel. The 10-minute walk from my (non-branded) hotel to the convention center was noteworthy only for its boarded up buildings, empty parking lots, desolate streets and sidewalks closed for pedestrians. Maybe things will come to life Monday morning but since getting here Saturday evening, I have to say this part of Houston represents the saddest looking downtown I’ve seen in a major city. Perhaps I’ll try a new route to work tomorrow.

Also see: Blogging from the AAPM; Day 2 at the AAPM: A photo essay

Addendum, July 29: I did indeed try a new route and discovered...the Green Zone! Actually, that strip running from downtown to the convention center is officially called the Discovery Green. I hope it spreads to Rusk Street.