Dr David Brettle from our School of Health Sciences, has recently been appointed President of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) at the organisation’s annual conference in Liverpool.
IPEM is a charity, learned society and professional body whose aims are to promote Medical Physics and Engineering for public, and ultimately, patient benefit.
Dr Brettle is a Salford alumnus, having being awarded his first degree in Computational Physics from the University in 1990. He also holds an honorary Chair in Health Sciences working with Professor Peter Hogg on the imaging of breast cancer, an area he first worked on in the late 1980’s.
At the conference dinner Dr Brettle thanked the University for its inclusive approach, which had allowed him to progress directly to the second year of his degree programme following his HND in Physics and Electronics from the then Lancashire Polytechnic, when other institutions he had approached had been less welcoming.
He further noted that because of the support he had received he was determined whilst President of the society to ”repay the debt” and strive to improve access to the profession for those who likewise have followed unconventional routes.
Dr Brettle is committed to promoting the profession to young people, who are largely unaware of Medical Physics and Engineering as a rewarding career opportunity. He aims to use the IPEM as an Innovation catalyst between HEIs, Industry, Health and patients and concluded:“on our own we can do good things, but working together we can do great things”.