Orientation and digital innovation construction of Medical Physics curriculum / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Medical Physics is an interdiscipline which is formed by applying the basic principles, methods, and techniques of physics to clinical medical research such as prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseases, and it is a compulsory professional basic course for medical students. However, there are many medical students reflect that the content of this course is obscure and difficult to understand. Teaching effect is not ideal. The main reasons are that the teaching method is single and the reference materials are few. Based on the actual situation of the course, Hebei Medical University, China promotes formative evaluation from the content of teaching materials, teaching means, and other aspects. At the same time, by combining with the Internet, the digital construction has been realized, deepening the reform of the Medical Physics curriculum, and remarkable results have been achieved.

Research and implementation of ideological and political elements into the medical physics curriculum / 中华医学教育探索杂志

In order to improve the students' initiative and values in knowledge seeking, this study integrates ideological and political elements into the medical physics curriculum. On the basis of the standard curriculum, 11 ideological and political elements corresponding to 6 knowledge points are added to the courseware and teaching plan and implemented in the classroom. The changes of students' ideological and moral level and values before and after teaching were statistically analyzed by questionnaire. The results show that through the integration of ideological and political elements, 98.15% (106/108) think it is necessary to integrate the ideological and political elements into the curriculum. The proportion of students who study for the purpose of working skills, national medical care and world medical care has increased, while the proportion of students who earn credits has decreased, which shows that students' learning initiative and values have been improved.

Analysis of the current team building of medical physics talent system in Hong Kong of China and its implications / 中华医院管理杂志

Medical physicists play an important role in the delivery of radiotherapy. Compared with China′s mainland, Hong Kong has established a more mature training mode and a more complete management system for medical physics talents. In this article, the authors introduced the current state of medical physics talent training, as well as the recruitment, certification and promotion of medical physicist in Hong Kong by querying the official websites of medical physics organizations, reviewing related literature and interviewing senior medical physicists in Hong Kong. The authors also analyzed the shortcomings in the construction of medical physics talent system in China′s mainland and made valuable suggestions.

Reflexiones sobre el primer programa de magister en física médica en diagnóstico por imagen de Chile / Reflections on the first master's degree on physics in diagnostic imaging from Chile

El objetivo del presente artículo de actualización será dar a conocer el nuevo programa de postgrado desarrollado denominado Magíster en Física Médica en diagnóstico por imagen, describiendo sus principales características y proponiendo algunas reflexiones. Este programa tiene la particularidad de permitir el acceso a diferentes Licenciados provenientes de las áreas de la Salud, Ingenierías o Ciencias. El plan de trabajo para este programa es de dos años, contempla cuatro semestres, con 91 créditos transferibles (SCT) por concepto de cursos y 27 SCT dedicados a la tesis. Dando un total de 118 SCT. Los Físicos Médicos son profesionales con formación académica de postgrado y entrenamiento clínico, que forman parte del grupo multidisciplinario profesional responsable del diagnóstico y tratamiento de pacientes, garantizando la calidad de los aspectos técnicos que intervienen en los procesos, la efectividad y la seguridad de los mismos, reduciendo así la probabilidad de accidentes. El programa de Magíster en Física Médica en diagnóstico por imagen de la Universidad de Tarapacá abre sus puertas para profesionales que se interesen a recibir esta formación única en Chile y ayudar en la tarea de hacer cada día del diagnóstico por imagen, una actividad más segura para los pacientes, profesionales y el público en general.

The main objective of this updating article is to present the latest Post-graduated developed program named " Master in Medical Physics in image diagnosting", describing its main characteristics and proposing some reflections about it. This program is focused on different graduates from the Health, Engineering or Science field. The study plan for this program is two years, including four semesters with 91 transferable credits for courses and 27 SCT dedicated to the thesis with a total of 118 SCT. Medical Physicists are professionals with postgraduate academic and clinical training, which is part of the professional multidisciplinary group that is responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of patients, guaranteeing the quality of the technical areas involved in the processes, the effectiveness and safety, and reducing the probability of accidents. This program of "Universidad de Tarapaca" is open to professionals that are interested in receiving unique training in Chile and in helping to provide accurate and safe imaging diagnosis to patients on a daily basis.

Practicality and importance of selected endothelial dysfunction measurement techniques: review

The measurement of endothelial dysfunction (ED) has importance in that it indicates the presence of coronary artery disease (Kuvin et al. in J Am Coll Cardiol 38(7):1843–1849, 2001) in addition to acting as a predictor of future adverse events (Halcox et al. in Circulation 106:653–658, 2002). Various tools, methods, and metrics exist that can provide an indicator of endothelial dysfunction. Given the signifi cance of ED, it is of utmost importance to fi nd a measurement technique that is reliable, while defi ning a metric providing a framework for an overall system that is practical, accurate, and repeatable. Success would provide a tool for the early detection of cardiovascular disease not only moving patients that are currently classifi ed as asymptomatic to symptomatic, but also providing a method to monitor the effi cacy of treatments.

Exploration of the teaching model of presentation-assimilation-discussion class in the course of medical physics / 中华医学教育探索杂志

There are some problems in the teaching of medical physics course,such as low learning initiative,deficient grasp of concept,and obstacles to realize the internalization and practical application of knowledge.The PAD (presentation-assimilation-discussion) class is applied in the course,in order to improve the students' learning state.PAD class is a teaching mode proposed from a psychological point,which advocates that teaching is the first before students start to learn and has an equal treatment on students' discussions and teachers' instruction,supporting independent learning.The teaching measures include:selecting course content to reach the balance between simplification and detailed interpretation;assigning open homework based on the course;dividing the class discussion into four steps;assessing students based on the performances of homework and final examinations.The research has shown that the PAD class facilitates improving the students' initiative of study and promoting the absorption and application of knowledge.

Overview of medical physics teaching in Brazil

Introduction:Brazil has seen a rise in the number of undergraduate courses in Medical Physics in recent years, as well as initiatives for the organization of graduation programs and clinical residencies in this multidisciplinary area. The purpose of the present study was to perform a data survey on academic training in Medical Physics in Brazil in the undergraduate, graduate, and residency levels until 2012.MethodsThe relevant information was requested for the leads of the training/teaching programs, which filled specific electronic forms. The data survey was accomplished by sending the forms to 38 educational institutions.ResultsThe majority (90%) of the contacted institutions returned their specific requested information. It was estimated an offer of 400 enroll admissions per year in the group of institutions that offer undergraduate programs in Medical Physics. Federal or state public educational institutions offer around 61% of these admissions and 39% are offered by private universities. The average number of candidate competition was estimated on 3.6 ± 3.9 applicants per place in undergraduate programs, and the student’s complete the courses in 5.1 ± 0.7 years. The average number of undergraduate degrees awarded per year is 10.6 ± 7.3. At least 80% of educational programs have compulsory internships in their curricula with average duration of 307 ± 99 hours. In the graduation programs it was verified that the average time for concluding the programs were 2.2 ± 0.2 years, 4.1 ± 0.2 years and 4.7 ± 0.6 years for the MSc, PhD and direct-PhD, respectively. The programs have CAPES ratings varying from 4 to 7. Finally, until 2012 the residence programs offered 31 positions per year and the professional development programs (not residence) provide 7 positions per year.ConclusionIt is understood that the presented numerical results offer a reliable scenario for the diagnosis of opportunities and scholarships distributions in each region of the country. These results may provide support for the improvement of resource distribution and the definition of public policies that can guide the adequacy of the distribution of courses in the three modalities of Medical Physics Education in the country.

Educação a Distância (EaD) em Física Médica / Distance education within medical physics / Educación a Distancia (EaD) en Física Médica

A formação inicial e continuada de profissionais de física médica possui características peculiares por ser uma área interdisciplinar, de evolução tecnológica constante. Em países como o Brasil, existem barreiras como: pequeno número de profissionais, geograficamente mal distribuídos, baixos recursos financeiros, e poucas opções em termos de acesso à informação, dificultando a incorporação e disseminação de novas técnicas que impactam na qualidade do atendimento em saúde. Esta revisão da literatura se propôs a avaliar o papel da EaD na educação de físicos médicos, retratando sua aplicabilidade mediante a identificação de experiências relevantes. Os trabalhos mostram que a EaD tem características interessantes para a área, tais como alta efetividade pedagógica e eficiência econômica, possibilitando o uso massivo de recursos multimídia, com grande abrangência geográfica e de forma gerenciável. Portanto tem potencial para superar as barreiras e suprir carências da área.

Pre-service and in-service education relating to medical physics have peculiar characteristics since this is an interdisciplinary field with constant technological evolution. In countries like Brazil, several barriers exist, such as small numbers of professionals who are geographically poorly distributed, low financial resources and few options for information access, thereby hindering and delaying the incorporation and dissemination of new techniques that could have an impact on healthcare quality. This literature review evaluated the role of distance education within medical physics, and portrayed its applicability through identifying relevant experiences. Studies have shown that distance education within this field presents interesting characteristics, such as high pedagogical effectiveness and economic efficiency, which enables massive use of multimedia resources with wide geographical coverage, in a manageable way. Therefore, distance education has potential to overcome the barriers and meet the needs.

La formación y la educación continua de profesionales en física médica tiene características únicas, es un campo interdisciplinario, donde la tecnología está en evolución constante. Países como Brasil, tienen barreras como: número reducido de profesionales, geográficamente distribuidos de forma desigual, escasos recursos financieros y pocas opciones en términos de acceso a información, dificultando la incorporación y difusión de nuevas técnicas que afectan la calidad de atención en salud. Esta revisión de literatura evalúa el papel de EaD en la educación de físicos médicos, retratando su aplicabilidad mediante identificación de experiencias relevantes. Artículos muestran que EaD tiene características interesantes para la física médica, como alta eficacia pedagógica y eficiencia económica, permitiendo uso masivo de recursos mediáticos, con amplia cobertura geográfica y de forma manejable. Por lo tanto, la herramienta tiene potencial para superar los obstáculos y satisfacer las necesidades del área.

Modified teaching approach for an enhanced medical physics graduate education experience

Lecture-based teaching promotes a passive interaction with students. Opportunities to modify this format are available to enhance the overall learning experience for both students and instructors. The description for a discussion- based learning format is presented as it applies to a graduate curriculum with technical (formal mathematical derivation) topics. The presented hybrid method involves several techniques, including problem-based learning, modeling, and online lectures, eliminating didactic lectures. The results from an end-of-course evaluation show that the students appear to prefer the modified format over the more traditional methodology of “lecture only” contact time. These results are motivation for further refinement and continued implementation of the described methodology in the current course and potentially other courses within the department graduate curriculum.

Education and training of medical physicists in South East Asia: accomplishments and challenges

John Cameron has made significant contributions to the field of Medical Physics. His contributions encompassed research and development, technical developments and education. He had a particular interest in the education of medical physicists in developing countries. Structured clinical training is also an essential component of the professional development of a medical physicist. This paper considers aspects of the clinical training and education of medical physicists in South-East Asia and the challenges facing the profession in the region if it is to keep pace with the rapid increase in the amount and technical complexity of medical physics infrastructure in the region.

The Exploration on Improving the Quality of Bilingual Education in Medical Physics / 中国医学物理学杂志

Bilingual education is an important way to train high-quality bilingual talents,but improvement the quality of bilingual education is a step-by-step process.Combining with the practice of bilingual education,this paper proposed a few points about improving the quality of bilingual education in medical physics from the four respects of improving the cognition,renewing teaching content,using multi-medium CAI software and improving teaching means.

The Study on the Case Teaching of Medical Physics Teaching / 中国医学物理学杂志

s:Case teaching is one of the vital methods in improving practical medical students.With the development of heuristic teaching,case teaching is becoming increasingly crucial in daily teaching.Through 3 year-case-teaching practice in medical physics teaching,case teaching has been bettered and systemized.Case and case teaching has become one of the standard teaching methods in teacher education.For the application of case teaching to medical physics teaching,correct understanding of the definition is needed for the selected cases.The diversity of teaching is also imperative for the feature of medical physics teaching.Based on experiences,it reinforces students' perception,creative ability and cultivates their practical ability for the job prospect.Meanwhile,it enhances instructors' teaching level by win-win effect.

Cultivation of Critical Thinking and Innovation Abilities for Undergraduate Students in Medical Physics Teaching / 中国医学物理学杂志

The teaching method of critical thinking was introduced in the course of medical physics for undergraduate students by means of case teaching,PBL teaching,Bio-Physics teaching and research-oriented teaching patterns.The teaching quality and both the abilities of critical thinking and innovation of the students were enhanced.

Study on the Web-based Courseware Construction of Medical Physics / 中国医学物理学杂志

The entry of the modern information technology and the appearance of the new teaching medium cause the new ed-ucational pattern innovations, bring the life and vitality to the medical physics education in medicine institutions of higher learning. This paper analyzed the current situation of the modern information technology application in medical physics teach-ing briefly, put forward several problems about the modern information technology application in medical physics teaching, and discussed the medical physics network course construction in medicine institutions of higher learning.

Concordance of Course Content for Medicine in Medical Physics / 中国医学物理学杂志

How to select and organize the content of course is an important component in curriculum reform. The special part for medicine in medical physics has characteristics of medical college, and is essential. The integration of this part is difficulty in curriculum reform of medical physics. In detail, the corresponding part of physics for medicine is integrated into a topic, which followed the part of classical physics. We adopted the method of special-topic teaching. Based on teaching experiences and in combination with the practical condition of the medical college, this paper selects and recombines some course content for medicine from medical physics, which is adopted by five-year medical students. Furthermore, some teaching requirement and guidance suggestion are presented.

Research in Course Construction and Teaching Reform of Medical Physical Experiment / 中国医学物理学杂志

There are many problems in the present medical physics experiment teaching, such as, behindhand experiment content and experiment instrument, single teaching methods, the lack of experiment time and laboratory funding, unreasonable experimental test methods and experimental plan, the lack the opportunity to operate hands-on labs for students, student's enthusiasm and initiative is not high, and so on. In order to solve these problem, promote the course construction and teaching reform of medical physical experiment, we have carried on a series of reforms, for example, starting from the selection experiment content, improvement teaching methods and test methods, paid great attention to enhance experimental ability of students, improved experiment's quality, stimulated experimental enthusiasm of students. At the same time, combined with the actual situation of laboratory and students, we make some renewal and consummation to experimental textbooks, strengthen standardization management to the laboratory, such as collective preparation for lessons, attend lecture each other and tutorial system for young teacher cultivation, improve and perfect a variety of laboratory rules and regulations. These will causes the laboratory construction standard order.

The South East Asian Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (SEAFOMP): Its history and role in the ASEAN countries

Informal discussion started in 1996 and the South East Asian Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (SEAFOMP) was officially accepted as a regional chapter of the IOMP at the Chicago World Congress in 2000 with five member countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Professor Kwan-Hoong Ng served as the founding president until 2006. Brunei (2002) and Vietnam (2005) joined subsequently. We are very grateful to the founding members of SEAFOMP: Anchali Krisanachinda, Kwan-Hoong Ng, Agnette Peralta, Ratana Pirabul, Djarwani S Soejoko and Toh-Jui Wong. The objectives of SEAFOMP are to promote (i) co-operation and communication between medical physics organizations in the region; (ii) medical physics and related activities in the region; (iii) the advancement in status and standard of practice of the medical physics profession; (iv) to organize and/or sponsor international and regional conferences, meetings or courses; (v) to collaborate or affiliate with other scientific organizations. SEAFOMP has been organizing a series of congresses to promote scientific exchange and mutual support. The South East Asian Congress of Medical Physics (SEACOMP) series was held respectively in Kuala Lumpur (2001), Bangkok (2003), Kuala Lumpur (2004) and Jakarta (2006). The respective congress themes indicated the emphasis and status of development. The number of participants (countries in parentheses) was encouraging: 110 (17), 150 (16), 220 (23) and 126 (7). In honour of the late Professor John Cameron, an eponymous lecture was established. The inaugural John Cameron Lecture was delivered by Professor Willi Kalender in 2004. His lecture was titled “Recent Developments in Volume CT Scanning”.

IUPESM: the international umbrella organisation for biomedical engineering and medical physics

An account of the development, aims and activities of the International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (IUPESM) is presented. Associations with the International Council of Science (ICSU) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are leading to exciting new projects towards improving global health, healthcare, quality of life and support of health technologies in developing countries.

Application of Investigating Study in the Teaching of Medical Physics / 中华医学教育探索杂志

This paper analyses the significance of applying investigating study to teaching practice of medical physics at present.It introduces the establishment of a research project of investigating study in medical physics and specific research methods.

Study on Teaching Methods of Thermology in Medical Physics / 中华医学教育探索杂志

This paper analyzes current problems in teaching thermology in medical physics.It introduces some ideas for reforming the thermology teaching:reforming traditional structure and system of its contents and improving teaching methods.