O57. Current opportunities for Medical Physics Internship training in South Africa

Abstract

Introduction Two year Medical Physics (MP) Internships (practical clinical training) are established in South Africa (SA), and are a requirement prior to registration, as a MP, with the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA). Over the past decade there has been an increasing demand for registered MPs in SA, thus the number of people in available academic programs has increased. Filling of state funded internship posts has declined and some posts have been scrapped. Recently there is anecdotal evidence of a transition in post availability as the number of graduates applying for any advertised internship post seems to have increased. The aim of this study is to determine current opportunities and intake of students and interns into training and education programs so as to facilitate informed planning of future opportunities. Materials and methods All HPCSA Accredited Departments of MP were contacted and requested to provide information about their current education and Internship programs. The information was summarised and analysed. All information was treated confidentially. Results There are currently about 120 active registered MPs in SA. There are 21 Interns registered against HPCSA Accredited Internships. These are either employed in State funded Internships, self-funded, funded by National Research Foundation Internship Bursaries, or by private sector bursaries. There are currently 29 BSc Honours students with MP subjects (or equivalent courses aimed at internship registration), 25 MSc Students, and 11 PhD students. Structured MSc programs were considered as equivalent to research based MSc programs. Conclusion This study highlights several points. The eight accredited training institutions offer diverse programs and have widely different organizational and training structures, even while complying with the HPCSA accreditation process. Post graduate research programs are active. There is a shortage of Internship opportunities for MP training countrywide. Increased private sector involvement and filling of State posts are suggested solutions. Two year Medical Physics (MP) Internships (practical clinical training) are established in South Africa (SA), and are a requirement prior to registration, as a MP, with the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA). Over the past decade there has been an increasing demand for registered MPs in SA, thus the number of people in available academic programs has increased. Filling of state funded internship posts has declined and some posts have been scrapped. Recently there is anecdotal evidence of a transition in post availability as the number of graduates applying for any advertised internship post seems to have increased. The aim of this study is to determine current opportunities and intake of students and interns into training and education programs so as to facilitate informed planning of future opportunities. All HPCSA Accredited Departments of MP were contacted and requested to provide information about their current education and Internship programs. The information was summarised and analysed. All information was treated confidentially. There are currently about 120 active registered MPs in SA. There are 21 Interns registered against HPCSA Accredited Internships. These are either employed in State funded Internships, self-funded, funded by National Research Foundation Internship Bursaries, or by private sector bursaries. There are currently 29 BSc Honours students with MP subjects (or equivalent courses aimed at internship registration), 25 MSc Students, and 11 PhD students. Structured MSc programs were considered as equivalent to research based MSc programs. This study highlights several points. The eight accredited training institutions offer diverse programs and have widely different organizational and training structures, even while complying with the HPCSA accreditation process. Post graduate research programs are active. There is a shortage of Internship opportunities for MP training countrywide. Increased private sector involvement and filling of State posts are suggested solutions.