Third International Conference on Nuclear Knowledge Management - Challenges and Approaches

A New Approach for Education and Training of Medical Physicists in Cuba: From University to Clinical Training

10 Nov 2016, 15:30

15m

Room M3 (IAEA M-Building)

oral Track 6: KM for non-power nuclear science and applications Technical Session 17

Speaker

Mr Jose Mario Rivero Blanco (High Institute on Applied Technologies and Sciences (InSTEC))

Description

According to the international recommendations of IAEA and the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP), the education and training of clinically qualified medical physicists (CQMP) should include three main academic and professional elements: a university level education, a postgraduate education specific in medical physics (MP) and a supervised clinical training. In Cuba, most of the medical physicists working in radiation oncology (RO) or nuclear medicine (NM) services have graduated from nuclear related programmes of the High Institute on Applied Technologies and Sciences (InSTEC), who further perform a postgraduate study in medical physics (MP), at the level of a so-called Diploma course or a Master in Sciences. Nevertheless, the third level of education, namely the supervised clinical training has not yet been established, due to the lack of official recognition of the profession of MP by the health authorities. A new approach for comprehensive training of CQMP is presented, where, by maintaining the three elements of education, the process is optimized so that a medical physicist is prepared with the highest level of theoretical and clinical training, in agreement with the current demand of the advanced technologies put in service in Cuban hospitals.