It’s a challenge to find subject matter experts from smaller fields who can volunteer as ABR question writers, Angoff committee members, or oral examiners.
Nuclear medical physicist Jen Stickel, PhD, is an exception. She has filled all three roles for her specialty since becoming a volunteer in 2016.
“It’s a small community,” she said. “It takes a certain kind of person to write appropriate questions or participate in the oral exam process. Once you find one of those in any discipline, you want to hang onto them as long as they’re willing and able to volunteer.”
Dr. Stickel started as a question writer, went on to Angoff work, and served as an oral examiner. Her next move comes later this month when she joins the ABR Board of Trustees.
The opportunity came as a surprise. She wasn’t aware that Robert A. Pooley, PhD, was at the end of his term as the nuclear medical physics representative. Knowing that she was rotating off her chair duties for the Nuclear Medical Physics (NMP) Part 2 Committee at the end of this year, she reached out to Dr. Pooley to discuss the position before submitting her application.
“I sent him an email asking if he could tell me more about it,” Dr. Stickel said. “Did he think I would be a good fit? Is my personality going to work?”
Dr. Pooley agreed that his colleague would be a good addition, inspiring Dr. Stickel to apply. She was thrilled to be named as a Trustee.
“I found my path to continue with the ABR for a while,” she said. “I didn’t really want to leave. I enjoy working with the staff and volunteers.”
As is the case with all incoming ABR Trustees and Governors, Dr. Stickel received confirmation that she had been named a few months before joining the Board. During that time, she has participated in numerous Trustee meetings, helping her more easily make the transition. She also will attend the fall meeting this month as a guest and will officially become a Trustee at the conclusion.
“I don’t feel like I’m drinking from the firehose all the time,” she said. “I can do some things and then step back and try to process it a little bit and ask questions and get some of the learning curve out of the way.”
Dr. Stickel is accustomed to learning on the job. After she earned her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Boston University, Dr. Stickel and her husband, also an engineer, had discussions about whether she should attend graduate or medical school.
Grad school won out and she earned a PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of California, Davis. She merged her interests of engineering and medicine when she learned on the fly as a nuclear medical physicist at UC Davis. It was her first exposure to the field.
“I always liked the medical side of things and the impact that engineering could have on medicine,” Dr. Stickel said. “I wanted to find the lane that bridges the gap between technology and physicians or patients.”
Dr. Stickel is vice president of diagnostic and nuclear medicine services for Colorado Associates in Medical Physics, a group that provides medical physics, health physics, and medical dosimetry services in radiation oncology, diagnostic imaging, and nuclear medicine across the Mountain West.
Her work schedule constantly changes. She could be performing therapy cases, testing machines, or managing people and budgets as a leader in her organization.
“We do a wide variety of stuff for a lot of hospitals,” Dr. Stickel said. “I never know who’s going to be on my phone when it rings. It could be one of my physicists or a customer.”
Jonathon Nye, PhD, is replacing Dr. Stickel as chair of the NMP Part 2 Committee. Dr. Nye, a professor in the College of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, said he appreciates the way his colleague led the group.
“Jen is very personable and has a leadership style that is inclusive and very practical,” Dr. Nye said. “She leads with all her cards on the table, and I appreciate that transparency and honesty.”
He said the committee recently recruited two members and resolved the majority of its outstanding review items. He’s looking forward to continuing his collaboration with Dr. Stickel as a Trustee.
“I’m very happy she was selected as the ABR’s new NMP Trustee,” Dr. Nye said. “That means we’ll be working together on NMP Part 2 in the future.”
Dr. Stickel enjoys partnering with colleagues from her specialty and beyond. As a Trustee, Dr. Stickel will oversee the MP Part 1 Clinical and Part 2 NMP Qualifying exams, Part 3 NMP Certifying Exam, and NMP Online Longitudinal Assessment.
“I’m really excited to step into this next role and support where I can,” she said.