License Requirements for Medical Physics

Any use of the title "professional medical physicist," any associated specialty titles, or practice of the profession of medical physics within New York State requires licensure. A professional medical physicist is licensed to practice in a specific specialty area. You may be licensed in more than one specialty, but you must submit a separate application and fee for each specialty and demonstrate that you have satisfied the education, experience, and examination requirements specific to that specialty area.

Professional Specialty Areas

The following descriptions define the four specialty areas that an applicant for licensure in New York State may apply for:

• Diagnostic radiological physics is the branch of medical physics relating to the diagnostic application of radiation, the analysis and interpretation of image quality, performance measurements and calibration of equipment associated with the production and use of radiation and, the analysis and interpretation of measurements associated with the production and use of radiation.
• Medical health physics is the branch of medical physics pertaining to the radiation safety aspects of the use of radiation for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and the use of equipment to perform appropriate radiation measurements.
• Medical nuclear physics is the branch of medical physics pertaining to the therapeutic and diagnostic application of radionuclides, excluding those used in sealed sources for therapeutic purposes, the analysis and interpretation of performance measurements associated with radiation imaging equipment and performance oversight of radionuclide calibration equipment associated with the use and production of radionuclides, the analysis and interpretation of measurements and calculations associated with patient organ doses, and the radiation safety aspects associated with the production and use of radionuclides.
• Therapeutic radiological physics or radiation oncology physics is the branch of medical physics relating to the therapeutic application of radiation, the analysis and interpretation of radiation equipment performance measurements and the calibration of equipment associated with the production and use of such radiation, the analysis and interpretation of measurements associated with patient doses, and the radiation safety aspects associated with the production and use of radiation.

To be licensed as a professional medical physicist in New York State you must:

• be at least 21 years of age;
• meet education and examination requirements;
• meet experience requirements.

You must file an application for licensure and the other forms indicated, along with the appropriate fee, to the Office of the Professions at the address specified on each form. It is your responsibility to follow up with anyone you have asked to send us material.

The specific requirements for licensure are contained in Title 8, Article 166, Section 8705 of New York's Education Law.

You should also read the general licensing information applicable for all professions.

The fee for licensure in the first specialty is $495 with an additional fee of $370 for each additional specialty.

The fee for a limited permit is $60 for each specialty (the limited permit fee is not refundable).

Fees are subject to change. The fee due is the one in law when your application is received (unless fees are increased retroactively). You will be billed for the difference if fees have been increased.

• Do not send cash.
• If you apply for licensure electronically using the online Application for Licensure, you will be required to pay by credit card.
• Other payments must be made by personal check or money order payable to the New York State Education Department. Your cancelled check is your receipt.
• Mail any required forms and fees to the indicated address on the form.

NOTE: Payment submitted from outside the United States should be made by check or draft on a United States bank and in United States currency; payments submitted in any other form will not be accepted and will be returned.

Individuals who withdraw their licensure application may be entitled to a partial refund.

• For the procedure to withdraw your application, contact the Professional Medical Physicist Unit at opunit2@nysed.gov or by calling 518-474-3817 ext. 260 or by fax at 518-402-2323
• The State Education Department is not responsible for any fees paid to an outside testing or credentials verification agency.

If you withdraw your application, obtain a refund, and then decide to seek New York State licensure at a later date, you will be considered a new applicant, and you will be required to pay the licensure and registration fees and meet the licensure requirements in place at the time you reapply.

To meet the professional education requirement for licensure, you must present evidence of completion of a master's or doctoral degree program that is:

• registered by the Department as licensure qualifying; or
• accredited in medical physics by an acceptable accrediting agency; or
• determined by the Department to be the substantial equivalent.

To be considered equivalent, your master's or doctoral degree program at a recognized university must be in medical physics, physics, another physical science, mathematics, engineering, or an equivalent field. You must also have 10 semester hours of coursework in medical physics completed as part of the degree program or as additional study. The coursework must include:

• radiation protection;
• radiation biology;
• dosimetry;
• instrumentation; and
• the clinical applications thereof and/or a supervised clinical experience pertinent to the specialty area in which you are applying.

Experience demonstrating proficiency in one or more of these areas may be accepted to satisfy the course area requirements.

To meet the experience requirement for licensure, you must present evidence of completion of at least two years of full-time work experience or its equivalent in the medical physics specialty for which you seek licensure, including at least one year of full-time work experience or its equivalent within the five years preceding the date of application. The work experience must be within the practice of a medical physics specialty, in accordance with definitions of the specialty and the practice of medical physics in Education Law. A year of full-time work experience or its equivalent means a minimum of 1,200 clock hours in the medical physics specialty.

The examination requirements for each of the specialty areas of licensure are indicated below. You must contact the appropriate examination administrator and ask that they forward your examination results or verification of your certification to the:

New York State Education Department,
Office of the Professions
Division of Professional Licensing Services
Medical Physics Unit
89 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12234-1000.

Diagnostic radiological physics

You must successfully complete the American Board of Radiology (ABR) General Radiologic Physics Examination (Part I) and the Specialty Area Examination in Diagnostic Radiologic Physics (Part II).

Medical health physics

You must successfully complete either A or B below.

1. The American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) Part I examination and the Part II specialty examination in Medical Health Physics;

   OR

2. The American Board of Health Physics (ABHP) Part I and Part II of the certification examination of the American Board of Health Physics.

Medical nuclear physics

You must successfully complete either A or B below.

1. The American Board of Radiology (ABR) General Radiologic Physics Examination (Part I) and the Specialty Area Examination in Medical Nuclear Physics (Part II);

   OR

2. the American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine (ABSNM) General Examination and the Specialty Examination in Nuclear Medical Physics and Instrumentation.

Therapeutic radiological physics or radiation oncology physics

You must successfully complete the American Board of Radiology (ABR) General Radiologic Physics Examination (Part I) and the Specialty Area Examination in Therapeutic Radiologic Physics (Part II).

Examination Administrators

The American Board of Radiology (ABR)
5441 East Williams Blvd., Suite 200
Tucson, AZ 85711
Phone 520-790-2900
Fax 520-790-3200
E-mail information@theabr.org
Web: www.theabr.org/

American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine (ABSNM)
3098 Creek Point Rd.
Graham, NC 27253
Phone 336-508-5148
E-mail ABSNM.MGR@gmail.com
Web: www.snm.org/absnm/

American Board of Health Physics
1313 Dolley Madison Blvd. Suite 402
McLean, VA 22101
Phone 703-790-1745
Web: https://www.aahp-abhp.org/abhp/home 

American Board of Medical Physics, Inc.
C/O Tomi Papanikolaou, Executive Director
P.O. Box 780518
San Antonio, TX 78278
Phone: 210-901-9052
Email: abmpexam@gmail.com
Web: www.abmpexam.com

Reasonable Testing Accommodations

If you have a disability and may require reasonable testing accommodations for the examination, please contact the examination administrator for information on the procedures for requesting such accommodations.

A limited permit to practice medical physics may be issued to an individual who meets all requirements for licensure except the examination and experience or to a student enrolled in a medical physics program approved by the New York State Education Department. A permittee is authorized to practice only under the direct and immediate supervision of a currently registered, New York State licensed medical physicist and only in the specialty area in which the supervisor is licensed to practice. The limited permit is valid for two years and may be renewed at the discretion of the Department for additional two-year periods for up to a total of no more than six years.

The fee for a limited permit is $60 for each specialty.