European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP) Policy Statement 12.1: Recommendations on Medical Physics Education and Training in Europe 2014

Abstract

In 2010, EFOMP issued Policy Statement No. 12: "The present status of Medical Physics Education and Training in Europe. New perspectives and EFOMP recommendations" to be applied to education and training in Medical Physics within the context of the developments in the European Higher Education Area arising from the Bologna Declaration and with a view to facilitate the free movement of Medical Physics professionals within Europe. Concurrently, new recommendations regarding qualifications frameworks were published by the European Parliament and Council which introduced new terminology and a new qualifications framework - the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) for lifelong learning. In addition, a new European directive involving the medical use of ionizing radiations and set to replace previous directives in this area was in the process of development. This has now been realized as Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom of 5 December 2013 which has repealed directive 97/43/Euratom. In this regard, a new document was developed in the context of the EC financed project "European Guidelines on the Medical Physics Expert" and published as RP174. Among other items, these guidelines refer to the mission statement, key activities, qualification framework and curricula for the specialty areas of Medical Physics relating to radiological devices and protection from ionizing radiation. These developments have made necessary an update of PS12; this policy statement provides the necessary update.

Awareness of medical radiation exposure among patients: A patient survey as a first step for effective communication of ionizing radiation risks

“…As far as communication is concerned, it was evident that the participants did not know the role of the medical physicists who are the health care professionals who can provide -more than others -accurate information about the effects of ionizing radiation on the human body [22][23]. Moreover, almost 70% of the respondents already discussed, and they would confidently discuss, the issues related to the use of ionizing radiation in medicine with family physician and radiology technician.…”

A Formação em Física Médica no Brasil e no Mundo: da Graduação à Pós-graduação

“…Os programas educacionais EMERALD e EMIT são ótimos exemplos 32,33 . O programa EMERALD, que inclui módulos para treinamento em FM nas áreas de radiologia, medicina nuclear e radioterapia, está sendo atualizado e uma versão inicial em português do módulo de Radiologia foi produzida, com a participação de pesquisadores brasileiros, graças a um programa de cooperação estabelecido entre o Instituto de Física da Universidade de São Paulo (IFUSP) e o King's College of London (KCL) 34 .…”

Innovations in Radiotherapy Technology

“…Hence, there is a crucial need for radiation therapy staff at all levels, in addition to the need for corresponding training and ongoing professional development for these individuals. The training burden is enormous: for medical physicists, most guidelines recommend a 2-3 year internship or residency, often after completion of medical physics graduate school [13], [14], [15]. Although various educational initiatives bring young radiation oncologists and medical physicists from low-and middle-income countries to academic cancer centres in high-income countries, they are often insufficient in addressing the current and future staffing deficits [16].…”