Abstract
In many countries the education and training of medical physicists has changed over the last few decades from being rather ad hoc to becoming structured with residency programs becoming quite common. These are often followed by formal certification by independent bodies, and medical physics professional organizations (MPPOs) affirming the quality of certified physicists and recognizing their competence and ability to practice independently. Policies on the training and education of medical physicists have been developed by the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) and by the Asia-Oceania Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (AFOMP). Currently nine countries in Asia-Oceania operate systems for the certification of clinical medical physicists and four others are planning or implementing such systems. The existing systems, which are described in this paper, generally conform to the policies. Licensing of medical physicists, which is primarily the responsibility of government bodies, is almost unknown in that region.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Mills MD, Thornewill J, Esterhay RJ (2010) Future trends in the supply and demand for radiation oncology physicists. J Appl Clin Med Phys 11:209–219
Stefanoyiannis AP et al (2009) Education and training of medical physicists in Europe and the countries of North America. In: Dössel O, Schlegel WC (eds) WC2009, IFMBE proceedings 25/XIII. Springer, Berlin, pp 97–100
Eudaldo T, Olsen K (2008) The present status of medical physics education and training in Europe: an EFOMP survey. Phys Med 24:3–20
Eudaldo T, Olsen K (2009) The European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics. Policy Statement No. 12: the present status of medical physics education and training in Europe. New perspectives and EFOMP recommendations. Phys Med 26:1–5
McCurdy BMC, Duggan L, Howlett S, Clark BG (2009) A comparison of medical physics training and education programs—Canada and Australia. Australas Phys Eng Sci Med 32:251–258
Krisanachinda A et al (2009) Medical physics education and training in South East Asia. In: Dössel O, Schlegel WC (eds) WC2009, IFMBE proceedings 25/XIII. Springer, Berlin, pp 143–145
Azahari HA, Zakariah GA, Hartmann GH (2009) Medical physics education in Bangladesh and cooperation with Germany. In: Dössel O, Schlegel WC (eds) WC2009, IFMBE proceedings 25/XIII. Springer, Berlin, pp 173–176
Cheung KY, Wu KR (2009) Professional training of medical physicists in AFOMP—the role of IOMP PRC. In: Dössel O, Schlegel WC (eds) WC2009, IFMBE proceedings 25/XIII. Springer, Berlin, pp 148–150
Meghzifene A (2009) Education, clinical training and professional recognition of medical physicists. In: Dössel O, Schlegel WC (eds) WC2009, IFMBE proceedings 25/XIII. Springer, Berlin, pp 10–12
Issa B (2009) Medical physics education and training: regional and international challenges. In: Dössel O, Schlegel WC (eds) WC2009, IFMBE proceedings 25/XIII. Springer, Berlin, pp 204–207
Round WH et al (2011) AFOMP Policy Statement No. 3: recommendations for the education and training of medical physicists in AFOMP countries. Australas Phys Eng Sci Med (accepted)
Inamura K (2009) Training of qualified medical physicists: problems and struggles in AFOMP region. In: Dössel O, Schlegel WC (eds) WC2009, IFMBE proceedings 25/XIII. Springer, Berlin, pp 27–29
Kron T, Ng KH (2010) An overview of credentialing and certification. In: Pawlicki T et al (eds) Quality and safety in radiotherapy. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 179–183
The web site of the College of Medical Physics of India. The certification requirements may be accessed at http://www.cmpi.org.in/certification.html. Accessed 15 June 2011
Wu RK, Sternick ES, Cheung KY (2009) Creating an independent international medical physics board. In: Dössel O, Schlegel WC (eds) WC2009, IFMBE proceedings 25/XIII. Springer, Berlin, pp 68–70
IOMP Policy Statement No. 2: basic requirements for education and training of medical physicists. http://www.iomp.org/?q=node/5. Accessed 29 Apr 2011
www.impcb.org—The web site of the International Medical Physics Certification Board. Revised version of Guidelines dated August 2010 may be accessed at http://www.impcb.org/CPdraft100810.htm
Acknowledgments
The author wishes to thank the following colleagues who provided information regarding the various certification systems: Kin-yin Cheung (Hong Kong), Ti-Chuang Chiang (Taiwan), Youngyih Han (Korea), Freddy Haryanto (Indonesia), Nguyen Van Hoa (Vietnam), Yimin Hu (PR China), Anchali Krisanachinda (Thailand), Rena Lee (Korea), Ajnai Luvsan (Mongolia), Abdus Mollah (Bangladesh), Hossein Mozdarani (Iran), Kwan Hoong Ng (Malaysia), Yoshihiko Onizuka (Japan), Napapong Pongnapang (Thailand), Lilian Rodriquez (Philippines), Raju Srivastava (Nepal), Kuppusamy Thayalan (India), Hong Jin Toh (Singapore), Emily Voon (Brunei), Areesha Zaman (Pakistan).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Round, W.H. Certification and licensing of clinical medical physicists in AFOMP countries. Australas Phys Eng Sci Med 34, 309–315 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13246-011-0083-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13246-011-0083-3