Behind the radiation machines used to fight cancer are specialized scientists who bring together medicine and physics to keep patients safe. These highly-trained health professionals play a key role in maximizing the benefits of radiation medicine while reducing the potential for harm.
7 November is the International Day of Medical Physics. This years' theme was “Education in Medical Physics – the Key to Success”. To celebrate this special day and its aim to raise public awareness about medical physics, Ahmed Meghzifene, Head of the Dosimetry and Medical Radiation Physics Section at IAEA, answered a few questions about medical physicists and what they do and how the IAEA contributes to their work.
The IAEA celebrated this year’s International Day of Medical Physics by organizing online webinar with the representatives of the international organizations and associations involved in supporting or coordinating the work of medical physicists. These included International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP), Asia-Oceania Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (AFOMP), Latin American Medical Physics Association (ALFIM), European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (EFOMP), Federation of African Medical Physics Organisations (FAMPO), Medical Physics for World Benefit (MPWB), and Joint International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP).
The participants introduced the key activities relevant to this year’s IDMP topic and discussed the challenges ahead such as delivering of the appropriate training of medical physicists in low income countries or the issue of certification. Julio Piñuela, the young medical physicist from Venezuela who came up with the idea of establishing the International Day for Medical Physics, has also joined this year`s celebration with a recorded message. The event has been recorded and the broadcast is available here >>
