Task Group on Medical Physicist Certification Board

First Face-to-Face Meeting in Munich – September 8, 2009
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
ICM Room Ammersee 1.428 Foyer OG, Munich, Germany – WC2009
Participants – Invited national or regional representatives only. Present are – see name and email list in Attachment 1 Minutes
1.Introduction by Raymond Wu. See also Attachment 2 – TG Report to PRC and EXCOM for record. All participants introduced themselves.
2. Tasks defined by EXCOM – see Attachment 3
3. Perspectives of countries with and without existing certification body
a. Korea – presented by Tae Suk Suh – already has board since 1991 with about 50 certified MP now, and would like an international board to raise its level. Already decided to join as voting member.
b. Hong Kong – presented by KY Cheung – already has board which requires residency training, since 2004 with about 48 certified MP. Interested in getting accreditation.
c. Mexico – presented by Maria-Ester Brandan – no certification board yet, has about 90 MP.
d. Lebanon – presented by Ibrahim Duhaini – 13 Linacs with about 10 MP, levels different. Already decided to join as voting member.
e.China – presented by Yimin Hu – in process of setting up official board, to certify two or more levels of MP. Already decided to join as voting member.
f. Brazil – presented by Laura N. Rodrigues – already has board since 1984. Some hospitals have residency programs. Can help other countries. Very interested in joining.
g. South Africa – presented by William Rae – has residency since 1960. Currently government does the registration. Has fellows supported by IAEA which encourages more MP production. Suggests TG not to exclude small countries, and should avoid brain drain.
h. Europe – presented by Stelios Christofides, President of EFOMP – board certifications not required depending on nations. Of 37 nations 11 have been approved by EFOMP. EFOMP can provide policies and explanations. TG should define terms used. EFOMP’s position on the Principle of Subsidiarity was explained.
i. North America – presented by Tony Seibert, AAPM President-Elect for 2010 – AAPM can provide published reports on all relevant processes in US. MP in US are not required to be certified. CAMPEP graduate programs are required starting 2012, and residency starting 2014. May become more difficult for foreign candidates.
j. India – presented by Arun Chougule – Atomic Energy Commission has certified MP as RSO since1960
k. Other representatives expressed their interest in this effort, from U.A.E, Philippines, Nepal, Japan, and Malaysia.
4. Member Countries – Due to large number of countries interested in the work and the need to keep the working group in a manageable size, the idea of Voting Member Countries was introduced. The national MP organizations should be asked to contribute $100 to $500 depending on GDP and MP numbers, and to discuss in depth if the international certification body is indeed needed.
5. Plan for second meeting – Raymond mentioned the ETC session on Education and Training in AFOMP region in the afternoon which will have a presentation on certification. The presentation in pdf format is included in the minutes as Attachment 4 for record. Raymond mentioned the second TG meeting the following day, which is open to the public.

Attachment 1
Signup sheet with email addresses

Attachment 2

Report submitted to IOMP PRC and EXCOM

REPORT OF THE TASK GROUP ON MEDICAL PHYSICIST CREDENTIALING BOARD
September 7, 2009 Raymond K. Wu, Chairman of Task Group

The IBMP (International Board of Medical Physics) Constituting Panel was formed in 2008 to work on guidelines for certification for medical physicists. The members are Edward S. Sternick, PhD, Chair; Raymond K. Wu, PhD, TG; K. Y. Cheung, PhD, PRC; Tae Suk Suh, PhD, AFOMP; Anchali Krisanachinda, PhD, SEAFOMP; TBA, Liaison FAMPO; Maria-Ester Brandan, PhD, ALFIM; Ibrahim Duhaini, MS, MEFOMP; Josef Novotny, PhD, East Europe; Ervin Podgorsak, PhD, Canada; Arun Chougule, DRP, PhD, India; Yimin Hu, Prof., China; Timothy Solberg, PhD, CAMPEP; and N. Suntharalingam, PhD.

The Panel held two meetings in Virginia Beach, on May 2nd and May 3rd, 2009. The meetings were one hour each, chaired by Dr. Edward Sternick of USA, to share the current information on general education and training backgrounds of practicing medical physicists in different countries. On May 5, there was the International Medical Physics Symposium entitled “Creating an International Medical Physics Credentialing Board”. The following regions and countries were represented: AFOMP (Tae Suk Suh and Rena Lee of Korea), Hong Kong (Colin Orton), China (Yimin Hu), India (Arun Chougule), MEFOMP (Ibrahim Duhaini of Lebanon), AFLIM (Laura Furnari of Brazil), Poland (Julian Malicki), Iraq (Muthana Al-Ghazi), Canada (Ervin Podgorsak), United States (Raymond Wu and many others), Bahrain & Saudi Arabia (Adel Mohamed), and Taiwan (Ti-Chuang Chiang). Dr. Chougule was not able to come in person but participated in all three sessions via the web-based facility set up by Mr. Chiang. The presentations are available for reference in the American College of Medical Physics ACMP.org website in the 2009 Annual Meeting Programs pages –
http://www.aapm.org/meetings/09ACMP/prsessions.asp?mid=41&sid=2951

Among all represented countries other than United States and Canada, at least five already have a board certification system in place. Of interest is most of the certification granting institutions were initiated by or strongly supported by the national medical physics organizations. According to the presentations, the certification system of at least one of the countries is run by the government. Some of the medical physics organizations participating in these three-day discussions may choose to become the lead of the project of establishing an internationally recognized process that other countries may join later.

The Constituting Panel will work on guidelines and standards but will not be involved with the creation or the operation of the credentialing board. The PRC chaired by K.Y. Cheung established a Task Group to take up this task. The Chairman of the Task Group is Raymond Wu. One of the first jobs of the Task Group is to identify member countries which are interested in creating such a credentialing process at the international level. These countries may be called Charter Member Countries of the Board. In an informal meeting in Korea during the International Stereotactic Society meeting, it was suggested that each Charter Member Country will contribute $100 to $500 to the operation fund, and budget an annual international trip for its representative to attend a face-to-face meeting if such a meeting is needed in addition to emails and phone conferences. In the upcoming World Congress, this idea will be discussed in the PRC meeting. During the World Congress 2009, the TG will meet two times. The agendas of both meetings showing the meeting dates, times and rooms are attached with this report.

Attachment 3
Task Group Charges
A. Make recommendations to the IOMP EXCOM
B. Explore possibilities and options in certifying medical physicists
C. Carry out the work of creating the international credentialing body if determined to be needed
D. Identify Voting Member Countries
E. Consider all other related issues

Attachment 4

ETC session on Education and Training in AFOMP region
Title of Presentation “Creating an Independent International Medical Physics Board”