Awareness and Training in Medical Physics: An Avenue to Enhance Cancer Care Delivery in a Low-Resource Setting.

PURPOSE: Awareness and training in medical physics (MP) is crucial to enhance productivity and safety in cancer management. We evaluated the impact of the pioneer teaching hospital in Nigeria on awareness and training in MP in an attempt to appraise and enhance cancer care delivery. METHODS: We reviewed physics students' training records in the MP unit of University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria, from June 2009 to June 2019. These included demographic data, institutions, levels of study, time and training duration, and contact details. Trainees were contacted for updated information on their professional status. Awareness of the profession had been created at UCH and institutions within and outside Ibadan. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016. RESULTS: One hundred thirteen trainees (mean age, 24.1 ± 2.3 years) composed of 65.5% male and 34.5% female students attended UCH within the 10-year period. They were categorized as undergraduates, (n = 83; 73.5%), Master's students (n = 25; 22.1%), Doctoral students (n = 2; 1.8%), and workers within nuclear field (n = 3; 2.7%). Of the 83 undergraduates, 5 (6.0%) were on training as of mid-September 2019, 25 (30.1%) were still in universities or serving in the mandatory national youth service, 11 (13.3%) were in the MP profession, and 42 (50.6%) were in other career pathways. Candidates' institutions spread across 5 of the 6 geopolitical zones in the country. Furthermore, 207 physics students took part in awareness seminars at 2 universities in commemoration of International Day of Medical Physics. CONCLUSION: Candidates from almost all parts of Nigeria benefitted from workplace experience at UCH, which continues to promote the profession. A greater feat will be attained when the University of Ibadan commences MP postgraduate programs.

Barriers to radiotherapy access at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: Nigeria has the biggest gap between radiotherapy availability and need, with one machine per 19.4 million people, compared to one machine per 250,000 people in high-income countries. This study aims to identify its patient-level barriers to radiotherapy access. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a cross sectional study consisting of patient questionnaires (n = 50) conducted in January 2016 to assess patient demographics, types of cancers seen, barriers to receiving radiotherapy, health beliefs and practices, and factors leading to treatment delay. RESULTS: Eighty percent of patients could not afford radiotherapy without financial assistance and only 6% of the patients had federal insurance, which did not cover radiotherapy services. Of the patients who had completed radiotherapy treatment, 91.3% had experienced treatment delay or often cancellation due to healthcare worker strike, power failure, machine breakdown, or prolonged wait time. The timeliness of a patient's radiotherapy care correlated with their employment status and distance from radiotherapy center (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Barriers to care at a radiotherapy center in a low- and middle-income country (LMIC) have previously not been well characterized. These findings can be used to inform efforts to expand the availability of radiotherapy and improve current treatment capacity in Nigeria and in other LMICs.