The first decade of the 21st century is seeing an increase in demand for radiation protection professionals. The resurgence of nuclear power in the U.S., the increased use of radiation-generating devices in homeland security, and the increase of the exposure of the U.S. population to medical radiation are some of the factors leading to the increased need for radiation protection. Certified health physicists are an important part of the mix of radiation protection professionals needed.

The 21st century is also seeing an explosion in new technologies that employ radiation for the betterment of humankind and new technologies to detect, quantify, and identify radiation and radioactive material, enabling health physicists to better protect people in the workplace, in the environment, and in a medical setting.

In the 21st century the American Academy of Health Physics and its ward, the American Board of Health Physics, are looking for better technology and better approaches to carry out their missions-the Board to find better ways to conduct the certification process and the Academy to support the Board and to meet the needs of its members.

Ideas that have recently been or are being considered to better meet our missions include:

• Better ways to prepare, give, and grade the certification exam.
• A better, more international, organization to underpin the process of certifying HPs.
• Better ways to meet the continuing educational needs of the Academy's members by using "distance-learning" or other technological means.
• Supporting international efforts to formalize and improve stakeholder engagement, as businesses and government entities make decisions that have or potentially have radiological impacts on the stakeholders.

The Academy also works to improve the value of certification to our members by

• Working with other organizations to get state governments to recognize and control the terms "health physicist" and "certified health physicist" as they are used in employment and professional recognition.
• Preventing or minimizing the "erosion of value" of being a CHP, such as in the case of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's revision of 10 CRF 35 that no longer automatically recognizes being a CHP with meeting the requirements for being an RSO at a licensed medical facility.
• Taking the lead in working with the Health Physics Society to annually conduct a salary survey that shows to CHPs (and their employers) the impact of being a CHP on salaries.
• Dealing with the occasional individual who represents him or herself as a CHP without having been certified (a similar, but perhaps more interesting, situation came up: should a convicted felon retain certification?)

This short message of mine is not the time or place to explain or discuss the splattering of ideas listed above. However, if you are interested in engaging in the discussion of these issues and helping formulate positive solutions, I invite you to contact me or any other member of your Academy's leadership team-the Executive Committee. Further, if you have energy or interest in these topics or any of the Academy's others activities, present or proposed, please contact Kathy Shingleton, Academy President-Elect this year. There may be opportunities for you to serve on one of the Academy's committees or in some other capacity.