Dear colleagues!
On the eve of the end of 2018, the Ukrainian Association of Medical Physicists informs you about the latest activities that complete a very busy, but, in our opinion, effective first year of existence of UAMP.
A regular meeting of the Interdepartmental Working Group of Experts on Radiation Protection in Medicine was held.
On December 18, 2018, a regular meeting of the Interdepartmental Working Group of Experts on Radiation Protection in Medicine took place in the premises of the State Inspectorate for Nuclear Regulation, which was attended by representatives of the Ukrainian Association of Medical Physicists.
The agenda included:
- The results of the Interdepartmental Group for 2018.
Representatives of the SNRCU summed up the work of the Interdepartmental Group, in particular, it was emphasized that the main result was the formation of a Roadmap, which includes a list of actions that can improve the state of radiation protection in medicine. Based on the results of the comments, the representatives of UAMP expressed the opinion that it is necessary to form a structured Concept from this Roadmap, the implementation of which will achieve the set goals.
- Presentation of the draft Concept for the Development of Medical Physics in Ukraine, formed by the Ukrainian Association of Medical Physicists (UAMP)
UAMP presented a draft Concept for the development of medical physics in Ukraine, in particular the part related to education, postgraduate education, residency, licensing. The concept included a description of the goals at each stage of medical physicist training and the necessary legislative changes that will allow these goals to be realized. In particular, they talked about defining the name of the specialty, qualification characteristics, requirements for basic education and master’s program, the need for residency in medical physics, the creation of a system of postgraduate education and continuing professional development, licensing of experts in medical physics and research (opportunity to obtain scientific degree).
The main goal of the implementation of this part of the Concept is the emergence in Ukraine of qualified licensed specialists, on which the system of high-quality and safe use of ionizing radiation sources (IRS) in medicine will be based.
This is only the first step towards the formation of a full-fledged Concept, which will be widely discussed in the future among all specialists in the country.
- Presentation of the developed UAMP on the basis of the international recommendations of Requirements to master’s programs in medical physics.
The project Requirements for Master’s Programs in Medical Physics was presented for the first time at the III Forum of Medical Physicists of Ukraine. Now this project has been presented to the members of the Interagency Group as part of the general Concept of Medical Physics Development in Ukraine. As our analysis showed, the existing master’s programs in medical physics do not meet international requirements, which means that the emergence of qualified experts in medical physics in Ukraine will be problematic. That is why the issue of education is key and paramount.
- Presentation of the List of protocols developed by UAMP for therapeutic medical physicists.
Given the emergence of new equipment and, consequently, new medical physicists, there is a need for their training. As in Ukraine at the moment there is no quality holistic education in the field of medical physics and knowledge is largely obtained through self-education, there is a need to focus young professionals on quality international literature, which must be mastered in the first place. That is why UAMF has developed a list of protocols that can play an important role in the initial training of new professionals and improve the quality of work of more experienced.
The idea was also expressed that the proposed List of Protocols could be used by representatives of the SNRCU in inspections of institutions that provide services in radiation therapy.
Link to List
- Discussion of the state of metrological control of dosimetric devices in Ukraine.
Representatives of the Institute of Metrology of Kharkiv and Kyiv Regional Standard Metrology of Bila Tserkva were present. The problem of the quality of calibration / calibration of dosimetric equipment was discussed, as well as the values of errors, which are indicated in the certificates. Unfortunately, a clear solution to this issue has not been reached. According to a representative of the Institute of Metrology, they can give calibration certificates with an error of 3% (k = 2), but only on the Kerm. After absorbing the dose in water, they can do cross-calibration on their Farmer ionization chamber and electrometer (UNIDOS), but in this case, the error is much larger. The IAEA also initiated together with the Institute of Metrology of Kharkiv the creation of a secondary standard laboratory, which will be part of the IAEA laboratory network (today Ukraine is almost the only country, except for a few small cooperating countries, which does not have a secondary standard laboratory).
After some time, more detailed information about the meeting will appear on the Site on Nuclear Safety, Radiation Protection and Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in the section “Radiation Safety in Medicine” – Activities of the Interdepartmental Working Group on Radiation Protection in medicine.
IAEA radiation dose survey (IGRT) completed
On November 30, 2018, the first Phase of the study “Practice and Radiation doses from Imaging in Radiotherapy in the European region” within the IAEA project RER9147 ‘Enhancing Member States’ Capabilities for Ensuring Radiation Protection of Individuals Undergoing Medical Exposure ’was completed.
The aim of Phase 1 was to obtain completed questionnaires from representatives of radiotherapy centers in Europe that use imaging during radiation therapy (IGRT).
The Ukrainian Association of Medical Physicists took on the role of coordinator of this project in Ukraine and disseminated information, as well as supported users who needed help filling out the Questionnaires.
According to preliminary estimates of the UAMP in Ukraine, IGRT is used by 15 institutions (the 16th is just starting clinical practice). At the same time, during the survey we received 8 questionnaires, which is 53.3%. It is also likely that some institutions sent questionnaires to the IAEA immediately.
In general, the percentage is not high, but, according to unofficial information, in previous surveys it was much lower (approaching zero). We have something to grow, and we hope that the activity and self-awareness of medical physicists in Ukraine will only grow. For now, we thank those medical physicists who were active and took part in the survey.
The Ukrainian Association of Medical Physicists sincerely wishes you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We wish you inspiration, the formation of each of you leadership skills in the struggle for honor and respect for our profession, a clear civic position and professional growth.
Sincerely,
Ukrainian Association of Medical Physicists
uamphs@gmail.com
