Education and training of medical physics in Iran: The past, the present and the future

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate the current status of education and training programs in medical physics in Iran. MethodsA questionnaire was designed and sent to 274 IAMP (Iranian Association of Medical Physicists) members focusing on these two topics: the educational situation (course syllabus, number of faculty members, number of PhD and MSc students and sub-fields offered in the department) and the professional situation (work experience, workplaces of medical physicists, postgraduate degrees that were granted and the amount of therapy and imaging equipment). ResultsMedical physics education in Iran is provided at 14 universities at master and doctorate levels. All medical physics departments offer an MSc program and 6 of them offer a PhD program. Most medical physics faculty (24%) work in the radiotherapy physics sub-specialty. Also, about 95 medical physics students graduate every year. There are six major peer-reviewed Iranian journals that publish medical physics papers in English. In addition, there are 74 radiotherapy machines including Co-60 and LINACs (LINear ACcelerators) across Iran as of 2013. ConclusionsThe curriculum of medical physics programs (MSc and PhD) in Iran must be improved to include long-term clinical courses in the four major sub-specialties of radiotherapy, medical imaging, nuclear medicine and radiation protection. It is hoped that clinical medical physicists will go through nationally-accredited exams before assuming independent clinical responsibilities. Moreover, the work situation of the medical physics profession in Iran should be clear and the government authorities must recognize importance of this interdisciplinary field in medicine.