How has the COVID‐19 pandemic changed patient care and the practice of medical physics in an academic environment?

ABSTRACT

Some of these challenges experienced in our field are well described in a recent article published by NPR, “Time to Ditch Those Awful Zoom Calls, CEOs Say,” as many other fields experienced many of the same challenges. https//www.npr.org/2020/10/14/923428794/from‐the‐folks‐who‐brought‐you‐boring‐meetings‐ceos‐want‐to‐ditch‐sterile‐zoom‐c Other workflow challenges that were exposed include the benefit of in‐person interactions that allow the immediate resolution of questions and complexities associated with patient care. [...]some argue that in‐person interaction is critical to the field in order to demonstrate the value imaging physics providers must reinforce to administrators. [...]given the circumstances of this transition, it was found that regular rounding and interaction with frontline healthcare workers provided important emotional support to overwhelmed essential medical staff at work. The continuation of scholarship also depends on the continued publication of science. Because scholarship related to COVID‐19 was in huge demand, JACMP publisher Wiley initially expressed concern in their ability to manage the throughput of unrelated articles.