RPA Adds Austin Harnage as Medical Physics Consultant
Radiological Physics Associates has added Austin Harnage to its team as a medical physics consultant. He brings hands-on experience in diagnostic medical physics, equipment testing and radiation safety, along with an interest in helping clients solve the practical challenges they encounter.
For Harnage, joining RPA brings his career back to an early influence. While exploring the field, he shadowed RPA medical physicist Harold Galbraith, who showed him how medical physics could combine his interest in physics and practical problem-solving with his desire to work with people. Harnage credits Galbraith with inspiring him to enter the profession and is grateful for the guidance he received.
Harnage recently completed a three-year residency with West Physics. He trained in Asheville, North Carolina, before serving clients in Texas and Oklahoma. His work included surveys of radiography, fluoroscopy, dental imaging, CT and MRI equipment, as well as experience in nuclear medicine, ultrasound, mammography and radiation protection. Working across a range of facilities helped him develop the ability to adapt to unfamiliar equipment and address each client’s needs.
Harnage earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, and a master’s degree in medical physics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His undergraduate materials science research took him to France. During graduate school, he conducted medical imaging research and gained clinical and technical experience through internships at Thompson Cancer Survival Center and Siemens Healthineers. At Siemens, he developed a passion for building tools used in medical imaging research.
The move also brings Harnage closer to his family and longtime friends in Clarksville. Outside work, he enjoys riding his motorcycle, particularly through East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains.