25 million lives are ended each year by non-communicable diseases (NCDs), a family of medical conditions which includes cancers, in addition to renal, cardiac, skeletal and neurological diseases. The use of nuclear medicine procedures, varies widely from country to country—in the Asia and Pacific region, inadequate access to technology and insufficient human resources have proved to be limiting factors, preventing Member States from engaging fully in the discipline and reaping its benefits.
With the aim of providing sustainable and standardized training in this field, the IAEA has launched its Curricula for Nuclear Medicine Professionals (ICNMP), a programme which thus far covers six thematic areas in the nuclear medicine discipline and which is cooperatively developed with six counterpart institutions. By providing comprehensive syllabi and state-of-the-art facilities in which to explore them, ICNMPs offer medical professionals in IAEA Member States the opportunity to maintain a high level of competence in the evolving fields of nuclear cardiology, hybrid imaging, therapeutic nuclear medicine and other specialized fields.
From 23-27 May, the IAEA conducted and successfully concluded an ICNMP workshop at the Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan, which focused on the importance of nuclear medicine techniques in the imaging of cerebrovascular and neurological diseases, including brain tumours, dementia and epilepsy. Initially intended for ARASIA (Cooperative Agreement for Arab States in Asia for Research, Development and Training related to Nuclear Science and Technology) experts and participants, 15 ARASIA participants were joined by an additional 65 local and international participants who, motivated by the course’s uniquely high standard of educational quality, independently financed their own participation in the workshop.
All participants who successfully finished the workshop were awarded with 26 European CME credits (ECMEC) by the European Union of Medical Specialties (UEMS) /European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME). A CME activity is accredited by UEMS-EACCME® if it has a high quality scientific content, if it is free of commercial bias and has an appropriate educational approach. This is the first time that an IAEA workshop was given external accreditation by UEMS-EACCME.
By identifying prominent training centres in the region, working towards the necessary Practical Arrangements, and developing a comprehensive syllabus, the IAEA Curricula for Nuclear Medicine Professionals has initiated a new approach to Member States, one which marries the benefits of knowledge-sharing and network-building, while simultaneously accommodating all levels of expertise and capacity.
