Medical Physicist Courses in India
1 Minimum qualification for Medical Physicist/RSO
The minimum qualifications
stipulated for Medical Physicist/Radiation Physicist/Radiological Physicist and
RSO (Radiological Safety Officer) in AERB safety code on Radiation Therapy
Sources, Equipment and Installations, AERB/RF-SC/MED-1 (rev.1), 2011 are as
follows:
1.1 Medical Physicists
(i) A post graduate degree in
Physics from a recognized university; (ii) A Post M.Sc. diploma in
radiological/medical physics from a recognized university; & (iii) An
internship of minimum 12 months in a recognized well-equipped radiation therapy
department. OR (i) A basic degree in science from a recognized university, with
Physics as one of the main subjects; (ii) A post graduate degree in
radiological/medical physics from a recognized university; & (iii) An internship
of minimum 12 months in a recognized well-equipped radiation therapy
department.
1.2 Radiological Safety
Officer (RSO)
(i) Minimum qualifications
required for a Medical Physicist/Radiation Physicist/ Radiological Physicist as
mentioned above; & (ii) An approval from the competent authority to
function as Radiological Safety Officer.
1.3 List of Medical Physics
Courses
List of the institutions whose
Medical Physics course is in accordance with AERB requirements as on 31st May,
2014 is enclosed as Annexure-1: List of Medical Physics Course
1.4 Important Note for
Medical Physics Courses
Only
those candidates who successfully complete the Medical Physics course from the
institutions listed in annexure-1 and undergo one year internship in a well
equipped radiotherapy centre are eligible to work as Medical Physicist in the
country. They are also eligible to appear for Radiological Safety Officer (RSO)
examination conducted by Radiological Physics & Advisiory Division
(RP&AD), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai on succesful completion of
which they become eligible to work as RSO in Medical Institutions and can
function as RSO with prior approval from AERB.
It is advised that candidates
must verify the status of the Medical Physics course with the course conducting
institutions and enroll themselves only in those institutions whose course is
in line with AERB requirements. Candidates completing the course from any
other institutions will not be considered eligible to work as Medical Physicist
and RSO in radiotherapy facilities in the country.
Institutions already conducting
Medical Physicist course and have not approached AERB so far, shall communicate
in order to get their course assessed by AERB.
2 Guidelines for Medical
Physics Internship Programme
2.1 General Information
As per revised AERB safety code
on Radiation Therapy Sources, Equipment and Installations, 2011 [Code No. AERB/
RF-MED/SC-1(Rev. 1)], minimum 12 months internship in a recognised
well-equipped radiation therapy department has been specified as a mandatory
requirement for a qualified Medical Physicist and Radiological Safety Officer.
To fullfill this requirement, all the Medical Physicists passing out from
different academic courses in the country should work as an intern/ resident
Medical Physicist under the supervision of a qualified and sufficiently
experienced Medical Physicist at a recognised well-equipped radiotherapy
centres in the country, as described below, for a duration not less than 12
months.
2.2 Well equipped
radiotherapy centre
A radiotherapy centre which is
having at least following facilities is considered as well equipped
radiotherapy centre for internship program:
2.3 Radiotherapy Equipments
One
Linear Accelerator (with photon and electron beams)
One
HDR Brachytherapy Unit
One
Simulator/ CT-Simulator
One
Treatment Planning System
Adequate dosimetry and
monitoring instruments
2.4 Manpower
At
least one Medical Physicist with minimum 5 years of experience
2.5 Eligibility for
Internship Supervisor
The internship supervisor must
have more than 3 years of working experience in a Radiotherapy Department.
2.6 Medical Physicist
Interns Ratio
One intern per Medical
Physicist having more than 3 years of working experience
2.7 Evaluation and
certification procedure
The competency of conducting a
clinical task by the intern should be evaluated at regular intervals by the
internship supervisor. While doing this evaluation the internship supervisor
should ensure that the intern is capable of conducting the desired task
unsupervised. It is also important that the intern should prepare a
comprehensive report of the work done during the 12 months period of the
internship. The report so prepared should jointly be authenticated by the
internship supervisor and the Head of Radiation Oncology Department of the
institute. Page 4 of 8 June
30, 2014
2.8 Certificate format
The internship completion
certificate should be issued on the letterhead of the institution in the following
format:
Ref.
No. and date of issuing the certificate This is to certify that Dr./Mr/Ms
.............................................. of
......................................... University/ Institution has underwent
the medical physics internship at the department of radiotherapy under the
supervision of
.................................................................. (name of the
internship supervisor) from (date) ...................... to (date)
...................... It is also certified that the candidate has obtained the
full competency in the following components
Radiotherapy
equipment (treatment and imaging) and QA
Beam
calibration and dosimetry
External
beam treatment planning
Brachytherapy
dosimetry and treatment planning
In-vivo
dosimetry and patient dose verification
Radiation
Protection and Safety
and has acquired sufficient
knowledge in
Clinical Orientation
Professional skill development
and career planning
(Signature
with date) (Signature with date) (Signature with date) (Name) (Name) (Name)
Head of the Institution Chief Medical Physicist Internship Supervisor Office
Seal Office Seal Office Seal
2.9 Syllabus for Internship
2.9.1 Part – I: Core
Components
CC1. Radiotherapy Equipment (treatment and imaging) and QA
Specifications, operation and
use of telecobalt unit and its accessories such as wedges, breast cone, trays
(if available), medical LINAC and its accessories (MLC, EPID, Electron
applicators, etc), radiotherapy simulator and its accessories; remote
after-loading brachytherapy equipment and its accessories (connectors, guide
tubes, applicators, needles, etc), and radiotherapy treatment planning system
(RTPS), Familiarization with networking and Record and Verify systems (if
available). Page 5 of 8 June
30, 2014
Purchase
document preparation, tendering and selection of equipments; Acceptance
testing, commissioning measurements and Quality assurance (QA) of radiotherapy
treatment and imaging equipments, maintenance of QA records.
CC2. Beam Calibration and
Dosimetry
Dosimeters, phantoms and
protocols (e.g. IAEA TRS 398/TG-51) for reference dosimetry; output
measurements in reference conditions of telecobalt gamma ray beams, high energy
x-ray and electron beams from medical LINACs; Familiarization with radiation
field analyser (RFA); Measurements of relative dosimetry parameters and factors
such as PDD,TPR, TMR, Scatter factors, Wedge factor, Tray transmission factor,
electron applicator output factor; Measurement of beam profiles and evaluation
of flatness, symmetry and beam penumbra. Uncertainty analysis and testing the
authenticity of measured data; Verification of measured data by alternate
techniques such as film dosimetry; Quality assurance and up-keeping of
dosimetry systems.
CC3. External Beam
Treatment Planning
Customization and creation of
beam library in the RTPS; Capabilities and limitations of the RTPS, Forward and
inverse planning - algorithms; Definition and localization of PTV, CTV, ITV,
Organ at risks (OARs), Time and monitor unit calculations for simple
treatments, time dose fractionation and gap correction; Steps of treatment
planning and treatment planning procedures – patient data acquisition,
contouring, immobilization, mould preparation; optimization and evaluation –
DVH/ TCP/ NTCP; Planning of common treatment cases; Execution of treatment
plans and supervision. Practice with conventional planning, 3D CRT, SRS/SRT,
IMRT/IGRT; Acceptance testing and quality assurance of RTPS.
CC4. Brachytherapy
Dosimetry and Treatment Planning
Dosimeters for source strength
measurements, source strength measurement methods and protocols; dosimetry
formalisms, measurement of dosimetry parameters, Definition of reference points
of dose calculation, applicator placements, image acquisition, planning
procedures, optimization, evaluation; Brachytherapy treatment protocols and
recommendations; Practice of planning with clinical cases of intracavitary,
intraluminal and interstitial brachytherapy. Execution and supervision of
brachytherapy treatments.
CC5. In-Vivo Dosimetry
and Patient Dose Verification
Objectives of patient in-vivo
dosimetry and dose verification; Understanding the use of different dosimeters
in such measurements e.g. ionization chambers, TLD, diodes, MOSFET, films;
Selection criteria for the dosimeter; In-vivo dosimetry measurements in gamma
rays, x-rays and electron beams; Familiarization with national/ international
protocols/ procedures of in-vivo dosimetry and patient dose verification.
CC6. Radiation Protection
and Safety
Familiarization with regulatory
requirements - safety codes and guides; Responsibilities and duties of a
Medical Physicist and radiological safety officer (RSO) in radiotherapy;
Working out room layout and shielding calculations for external beam,
brachytherapy and simulator (Physical/CT) installations; Submission of safety
status report to AERB – ASR, Unusual occurrences, source loss etc. Maintenance
of records – QA, calibration certificates of equipments, source inventory,
personnel dose records, protection survey Page
6 of 8 June 30, 2014
Radiation
safety requirements for radiotherapy equipments; Radiation protection survey of
equipment and installations; Analysis of survey data and assessing the safety
status of equipment and installations; Familiarization with national regulation
pertaining to procurement, use and decommissioning of radiotherapy equipment
and sources; Safety of radioactive sources; Experience in handling emergency
situations. Safety requirements for occupational, medical and public exposures;
Understanding the methods for minimizing the dose to critical sites of the
patients. Orientation for RSO certification examination.
2.9.2 Part – II: Auxiliary
Components
AC1. Clinical Orientation
Surface and cross sectional
anatomy with reference to radiotherapy, identify key anatomical features on
x-ray/ CT images, role of radiotherapy in cancer treatment, benign and
malignant tumours, primary and secondary tumours, metastasis and routes of
metastases, tumour stage and grading, common cancer sites, identification of abnormal
size of organs due to primary tumours and metastases on radiological images,
identification of organs at risk surrounding the tumours, palliative and
curative therapy, time dose fractionation, accuracy requirement in
radiotherapy, tissue tolerances, therapeutic gain, clinical targets, anatomical
and physiological changes due to radiotherapy treatment, Patient related
clinical experiences. Familiarisation with different professionals/ departments
involved directly or indirectly with radiation treatment of cancer.
AC2. Professional Skill
Development and Career Planning
Ethics in medical use of
ionizing radiation; Development of research and teaching skills; Planning
research and development on a given topic related to development of dosimetry
methods, development of dosimeters, development of QA tools and methods,
development of treatment devices and accessories, etc. Training to work as
effective educator and mentor in radiation oncology physics.
2.10 Important Note for
internship
1.
The institutions fulfilling the above
mentioned guidelines for Medical Physics Internship Programme and desirous
of conducting the internship programme are allowed to take Medical physics
interns and no separate permission is required from AERB for carrying
out the internship programme. However, the institution providing internship are
advised to ensure that the candidates have undergone their Medical Physics
Course from an institution who’s Course has been assessed by AERB (Ref:
Annexure-1).
2. The co-ordinator the medical
physics course conducting institution/candidates are advised to ensure that the
institution where the internship is sought by them is meeting the guidelines
for Medical Physics Internship Programme laid down by AERB.
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