NUCLEAR MEDICINE: AN EVOLVING MEDICAL SPECIALTY

Historically considered a subspecialty under radiology, nuclear medicine has grown in stature by leaps and bounds as it has managed to carve out a niche for itself within the realms of medical practice. Treated as an independent specialty in modern medicine, nuclear medicine concerns itself with the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. It is deemed a worthy exercise to take a closer look at this discipline and understand its nuances as the numbers of both diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures performed steadily increase across the globe. This review, by shedding light on the unique field of nuclear medicine, is a concerted attempt to sensitize our pharmaceutical community to the discipline. Apart from opening up the world of radiopharmaceuticals and updating the status of nuclear medicine in developing nations, this piece attempts to trace the evolution of nuclear medicine and represents a tribute to Dr. Henry N. Wagner Jr., the doyen of American nuclear medicine, whom the author was fortunate enough to meet during his stint as a postdoctoral fellow in nuclear medicine at the Department of Radiology, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.