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MEDICAL PHYSICS INTERNATIONAL Journal, vol.1, No.1, 2013ACCREDITATION OF MEDICAL PHYSICS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMSIN NORTH AMERICAGeorge Starkschall, PhD 1 , Wayne Beckham, PhD 2 , William R Hendee, PhD 31Houston TX USA, 2 Victoria BC Canada, 3 Rochester MN USAAbstract- The purpose of this paper is to provide thereader with a description of the accreditation process formedical physics educational programs in North America bythe Commission on Accreditation of Medical PhysicsEducational Programs (CAMPEP). Forty graduateprograms and 65 residency programs are currentlyaccredited. Programs desiring accreditation must prepare aSelf-Study document, which is reviewed by an appropriateCAMPEP Review Committee. Following approval of theSelf-Study, a site visit team visits the program and preparesa recommendation to the Review Committee. Afterdiscussion and vote by the Review Committee, thedocumentation is forwarded to the Board of Directors forfinal approval. Accreditation is for up to five years and isrenewable. The introduction of the accreditation processhas resulted in an increase in the passing rate in theAmerican Board of Radiology certification examinations forcandidates completing accredited educational programs.Running title - Accreditation of North American medicalphysics programsKeywords- accreditation, education, medical physicsINTRODUCTIONAccreditation is defined as “a process whereby aprofessional association or nongovernmental agencygrants recognition to a school or health care institution fordemonstrated ability to meet predetermined criteria forestablished standards.” [1] In North America, medicalphysics graduate programs, residency programs, andcontinuing education programs are accredited by theCommission on Accreditation of Medical PhysicsEducational Programs (CAMPEP). The stated mission ofCAMPEP is “to promote consistent quality education ofmedical physicists by evaluating and accreditingGraduate, Residency and Continuing Education programsthat meet high standards established by CAMPEP incollaboration with its sponsoring organizations.” [2]The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader witha description of accreditation of medical physicseducational programs in North America. We shall beginwith a brief history of the accreditation process formedical physics educational programs, and follow thiswith a description of the process by which CAMPEPaccredits both graduate programs and residencyprograms.HISTORY OF THE ACCREDITATION PROCESSAccreditation of medical physics educational programsin North America began in the 1970s as an informalprocess of educational review administered by theAmerican Association of Physicists in Medicine(AAPM). The first programs accredited by thismechanism were the medical physics graduate programsat the University of Oklahoma and the University ofColorado. In the 1980s the accreditation process becamemore formalized as a “service” offered by the AAPMthrough an AAPM-controlled entity named theCommission on Accreditation of Educational Programsfor Medical Physicists. The first graduate programs togain accreditation through this more formal process werethe programs in medical physics at Wayne StateUniversity (1988), The University of Wisconsin (1988),The University of Texas – Houston (1989) and McGillUniversity (1993). At this time, concern over liabilitycaused the AAPM to transfer the accreditation process toan independent body, and CAMPEP was officiallyformed and incorporated in Illinois in 1994. CAMPEPwas initially sponsored by three organizations in theUnited States, the AAPM, the American College ofRadiology (ACR), and the American College of MedicalPhysics (ACMP). The Canadian College of Physicists inMedicine (CCPM) joined the list of sponsors in 2001, andwas replaced by the Canadian Organization of MedicalPhysics (COMP) in 2010. In 2012, after the ACMP wasincorporated into the AAPM, the Radiological Society ofNorth America (RSNA) and the American Society forRadiation Oncology (ASTRO) joined as sponsors. Thefirst continuing education programs were accredited in1995 and the first residency program accredited was theprogram at the Washington University School ofMedicine (1997).The need for medical physics educational programs tobecome accredited became more critical in 2002, whenthe American Board of Radiology (ABR) mandated thatall medical physicists desiring to take the certification22