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By Douglas Holl, Defense Health Agency-Public Health Public Affairs
Defense Health Agency-Public Health has launched its first-ever Medical Radiation Safety Officer course to ensure a consistent standard of safety for patients and staff across its global network.
The course, which brings together service members and civilians for 40 hours of specialized training, was developed to address a critical gap in standardized training for radiation safety officers, or RSOs, who are responsible for overseeing the safe use of radioactive materials and X-ray-producing devices in military hospitals and clinics.
"A lot of times, a radiation safety officer is appointed by the commander or director as a collateral duty,” said Army Lt. Col. Jodi Santiago, chief of the health physics division at the Defense Centers for Public Health-Aberdeen. “This course provides the training so they can optimally execute their responsibilities.”
While civilian radiation safety courses exist, course developers emphasized that this program is uniquely tailored to the specific needs of DHA.
"We’ve really geared it towards what our military treatment facilities need," said Santiago. “The training addresses DHA policies and the military chain of command, aspects not covered in civilian programs.”
Brian Livingston, the DCPH-A Radiation Safety Officer and health physicist who spearheaded the curriculum's development, says the goal is to create a common set of skills and a professional network for RSOs spread across the world.
"Radiation-related incidents may occur at DHA facilities and we need trained (individuals/staff) to respond to these situations,” said Livingston. “We are working to learn from historic incidences to develop best practices to address issues and avoid future occurrences."
For students, the course offered crucial insights, especially for those transitioning from other radiation safety fields. Navy Lt. Jeffrey Divis, a radiation health officer with an extensive background in industrial and naval nuclear programs, attended to bridge knowledge gaps for his new role in a medical center.
"I've been an RSO before, not on the medical side," said Divis. "This course addresses my medical radiation safety program needs.” Other attendees found the course helped them refine their current practices.
"It's given me some things to go back and look at now that I've been doing the job for a year," said Jason Fewkes from Madigan Army Medical Center, located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. “It really helps me refocus where I should be and take a look at how I can make things better.”
The comprehensive curriculum, which includes hands-on training with various radiation detection instruments, was highly praised by participants.
Army 1st Lt. Adrien Giuliano, a nuclear medical science officer at the Eisenhower Army Medical Center located at U.S. Army Fort Gordon, Georgia, was so impressed that he thinks the course should be mandatory for all new military health physicists.
"Everything we've gone over so far is really in-depth," said Giuliano. “I shared in one of my class evaluations that this course would benefit any new military health physicist.”
The course's instructors are a mix of experienced civilian certified health physicists and military nuclear medical science officers, who bring real-world experience from inspecting and managing military hospitals and clinics. They all have a simple, but vital, goal.
“My ultimate goal is that the course helps ensure the health and safety of patients and workers," said Jerry Falo, a DCPH-A health physicist. “I want to give the students some knowledge and information they can take back to their facilities and use in running their programs. I also hope to learn something from them so I can do an even better job supporting them here.”
The course organizers are gathering feedback to refine the program, with plans to offer it in the future and potentially take it on the road to other facilities, Santiago said.
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| Date Taken: | 11.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 11.25.2025 11:43 |
| Story ID: | 552321 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 20 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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