"Frosted" Flakes

["GARY MANSFIELD" <GARY.MANSFIELD@quickmail.llnl.gov>]

                                        - Captain Plutonium!

                                      "Frosted" Flakes

More Corn:

In her response (see below) to my "Cornflakes" commentary on certification,
Cathy Knox makes some very good points - most of which I agree with.  I agree
that degrees do not always equal competency, and I have met degreed, and
"even" certified HPs whose opinions and abilities I would not want to touch
with a "10-foot tele-tector."   I also agree that taking responsibility for
one's actions is an important part of being a competent "professional."

[And . . . I personally have discovered (and have been told) numerous times
that I am not as powerful or divine as I sometimes like to think I am. ] 

I think one of the key issues in certification is "demonstration of
competence" - and that "competence" must include the ability to recognize the
limit's of one's expertise and experience, in addition to taking
responsibility for one's actions.   For example, if (like me) you wouldn't
recognize a pi-meson if you tripped over one, then when someone asks you to do
pi-meson beam dosimetry, it is your RESPONSIBILITY as a ethical professional
to say "sorry, that's outside the area of my expertise"  and then you look for
some help.  The alternative to this is to use what I call the "Indiana Jones'
School of Health Physics" - that is, you "make it up as you go . . ."   This
practice is not generally recommended, and should not normally be necessary,
except perhaps in certain infrequent and bizarre sets of circumstances, the
details of which I can't go into.

I don't mean to knock people who either don't have degrees or are not
certified.  I suspect that most ALL of us have been in situations where we
lacked experience and/or knowledge - and that's OK - provided that you admit
(at least to yourself) that you don't know what you are doing - and seek
appropriate help.  Thus, if you are not an accelerator HP (and who is,
now-a-days?) and think you see a pi-meson lying on the floor, the RESPONSIBLE
and COMPETENT thing to do is to check with a real live accelerator HP to see
if it really is a pi-meson, before you either pick it up or sweep it under the
carpet.

I do still submit, however, that MOST of the time - you get what you pay for. 
 If you want to "get by" with an experienced technician instead of a degreed
(and maybe certified) HP - then fine.  Just let me know where the facility is
so I don't buy a home downwind.  

And, with respect to costs and "mega-deficits" -  the kilo-dollars paid to HPs
who are doing real radiation protection [which I define as operating in
situations where real people actually get real, measured doses!] are dwarfed
by the tera-dollars being spent on environmental "protection" which deals
largely with imaginary doses received by imaginary people.   I suspect that
Mr. or Ms. Average American would not mind spending a few more tax dollars to
be sure that equipment was working, appropriate procedures were used, and
doses were minimized when they got their next x ray  or nuc. med. exam.  
Again - WHO would you like to have doing the QA and rad. safety checks on a
diagnostic or therapy x ray machine that was going to be used on your child?  


I'll cut this short (?), as I suspect that Melissa is about to send out one of
her "Non-Technical Threads on RADSAFE" Death Squads for me any minute now . .
..

-----------------------------------
Cathy's response to my Cornflakes note was:

"Hey Gary, obviously in these days of mega-deficiets,( which our children
and/or 
grand children will be paying for), there is reluctance to "pay the bucks",
cost
implications go beyond power plants, hospitals etc here.. incresed costs 
experienced by medical product companies, researchers etc. all funnel down to 
the consumer/taxpayer...

Having worked with, for and around PHD researchers,MD's, DVM's, and of course,

degreed HP's, for the last 22 years, I  find degrees #173# competency. A far
better 
corelation to competency is the ability to accept responsibility for ones own 
actions, and to do that one must be aware of one's own actions.  Individuals 
with supremist or elitist, or carry "I am powerful plus devine" , attitudes, 
sorry to say, are the boo boo repeat ofenders. Again, this "I am infalible" 
syndrome is not limited to degreed people..
I like to think of it as trees that don't always yield the fruit we 
want..degrees; competencey, or religion; ethics, or   
public school; education, good salary; job well done,etc...etc.. "

Cathy Knox
Health Science Auditor
Radiation Protection 
University of Minnesota
W-176 Boynton
cathyk@maroon.tc.umn.edu
(612) 626-1995