Curriculum
Note: This curriculum is adapted by Dr. Gary T. Smith from the paper, “Components of Professional Competence for Nuclear Medicine Physicians” ABNM position Statement, J Nuc Med 44(6):988-990, 2003.
Nuclear Medicine Competencies
General Competencies
- Patient Care
- General Medical Knowledge
- Interpersonal Skills
- Practice Based Learning
- Professionalism
- Systems Based Practice
Professional Competencies
- Physical Science
- Structure of matter
- Radioactive decay
- Interaction of radiation with matter
- Radiation biology
- Basic principles of imaging procedures
- Planar gamma imaging
- SPECT
- Coincidence imaging (PET)
- Attenuation and scatter correction
- CT
- MRI
- MRS
- Ultrasound
- Doppler ultrasound
- Instrumentation
- Principles of radiation detection
- Imaging instrumentation
- Gamma camera
- Scanners
- SPECT devices
- PET (including hybrid coincidence cameras)
- Nonimaging instrumentation
- Gamma well counter
- Scintillation probe
- Liquid scintillation counter
- Radiation monitoring devices
- Dose calibrator
- Surgical probes (gamma and beta)
- Geiger counter and survey meter
- Collimators
- Electronics
- Pulse amplifier
- Pulse height analyzer
- Scaler
- Count rate meter
- Image display
- Resolution
- Contrast
- Digital display technology
- Quality control principles and procedures
- Imaging artifacts
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Fundamental concepts of mathematics
- Fundamental concepts of statistics
- Probability distributions
- Counting statistics
- Principles of medical decision making
- Bayes Theorem
- ROC curve analysis
- Principles of clinical study design and analysis
- Computer Science
- Basics of computer architecture
- Basics of computer programming
- Digital image processing
- Image acquisition
- Image filtering
- Quantitative analysis
- Image storage and display
- Image matrix size and depth
- Window and level
- Color tables and display
- PC applications
- Word processing
- Spreadsheet analysis
- Database technology
- Medical Information Systems
- HIS/RIS
- DICOM
- PACS
- Teleradiology
- Radiation Biology and Protection
- Biologic effects of radiation
- Methods of reducing unnecessary radiation exposure to patients, public
- Internal radiation dosimetry
- Clinical management of radiation overexposure
- Regulatory limits of radiation exposure
- Handling of radioactive waste
- Radiation safety committee responsibilities
- Radiopharmaceutical Production, Biochemistry, and Clinical Physiology
- Production of radionuclides
- Formulation and labeling of radiopharmaceuticals
- Quality control of radiopharmaceuticals and CGMPs
- Pharmacokinetics of radiopharmaceuticals
- Regulations regarding use of radioactive materials in research
- In-vivo Diagnostic Use of Radiopharmaceuticals
- In-vivo imaging of:
- Central nervous system
- Endocrine system
- Thyroid scintigraphy & treatment of thyroid disease
- Non-thyroid nuclear endocrinology
- Salivary glands (NA)
- Bone marrow and hematologic system
- Infection imaging
- Respiratory system
- V/Q in pulmonary embolism and non-embolic disease
- Cardiovascular system
- Nuclear cardiology I (SPECT, Rb-82 MPS PET)
- Nuclear cardiology II (MUGA, First Pass, PET)
- Gastrointestinal tract
- Hepatobiliary and gastric emptying scintigraphy
- Imaging liver, gallbladder, and spleen
- Hepatobiliary system (as above)
- Lymphatic system and spleen
- Sentinel node in surgical oncology
- Musculoskeletal system
- Genitourinary system (including renal transplant scintigraphy)
- Oncologic imaging
- General nuclear medicine tumor imaging
- Clinical PET for tumor management
- Monoclonal antibody and peptide imaging
- Other diagnostic imaging
- Pediatric nuclear medicine
- Recent advances in nuclear imaging
- Research activity in nuclear medicine
- Tele-nuclear medicine
- Quantification imaging
- Tissue tracer concentration
- Renal clearance rates and differential function
- Gastric emptying half-times
- Cardiac function including right and left ventricular ejection fractions
- Gallbladder ejection fraction and hepatic clearance rates
- Urinary bladder reflux volume
- Cellular kinetic studies
- Erythrocyte survival time
- Platelet survival time
- Non-imaging quantitative studies
- Schilling test
- GFR determination
- Red cell mass
- Plasma volume
- C-14 urea breath test
- Intraoperative probes for lymph node identification
- Correlative anatomic imaging
- Correlation of imaging results with pertinent laboratory studies
- Patient monitoring
- EKG interpretation
- CPR and ACLS
- Interventional testing including exercise stress and pharmacologic stress
- Management of acute allergic reactions
- Pharmacology of drugs used in nuclear medicine
- Applications of labeled antibodies and peptides
- Pharmacologic interventions in imaging
- Cardiac
- Renal
- Cerebral
- Hepatobiliary
- FDG
- Basic knowledge of cross-sectional anatomy
- Therapeutic Use of Radionuclides
- Patient selection
- Indications for radionuclide therapy
- Contraindications to unsealed source therapy
- Clinical efficacy of therapeutic radionuclide procedures
- Radiation dosimetry
- Patient care
- Early and late adverse reactions
- Toxicity
- Follow-up evaluation and care
- Radiation safety
- Long-term sequelae of radiation to patient and family
- Regulatory limits for patient release
- Pediatric radiation safety
- Specific applications
- Thyroid cancer and hyperthyroidism
- Management of metastatic bone pain
- Radiocolloid therapy
- Radiolabeled antibody therapy
- Radiophosphorus for polycythemia vera and myeloproliferative disorders
- Molecular Imaging Principles
- MRI, Nuclear, Optical
- Instrumentation
