Nuclear Medicine Doctor

Nature of the work

A nuclear medicine specialist uses the tracer principle, most often with radiopharmaceuticals, to evaluate molecular, metabolic, physiologic and pathologic conditions of the body for the purposes of diagnosis, therapy, and research. Nuclear medicine encompasses molecular imaging. Imaging systems are used to detect the tracer signal to provide spatial and temporal information on the processes of interest. A wide variety of diseases can be evaluated in this way. Changes in function usually occur before changes in structure thereby facilitating the earlier diagnosis of disease or response to therapy. The nuclear medicine physician often uses anatomic imaging combined with molecular imaging (e.g., PET/CT). The most common diagnostic applications of nuclear medicine include the early detection of coronary artery disease, cancer diagnosis and staging, and the evaluation of the effect of cancer treatment. Some types of radioactive molecules can be used to treat cancer (e.g., lymphoma, thyroid cancer) or relieve the severe pain caused by cancer that has spread to bone.¹

Training/residency information

Residency training in nuclear medicine is three years.

References
1 The American Board of Medical Specialties. Guide to Physician Specialties. Evanston, IL: American Board of Medical Specialties; February 2008.