Radioprotection 2024 , 59 ( 1 ), 26 – 29 © SFRP , 2024 https :// doi . org / 10.1051 / radiopro / 2023048
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ARTICLE
Requirement for diagnostic medical physicists in Vietnam
T-Q . Nguyen 1 , 2 ,* , T-M . Nguyen 1 and H-N . Tran 3
1 Bac Ninh general hospital , Nguyen Quyen Street , Vo Cuong ward , Bac Ninh city , Bac Ninh province , Vietnam . 2 Faculty of Physics , VNU University of Science , 334 Nguyen Trai , Hanoi , Vietnam . 3 Faculty of Fundamental Sciences , PHENIKAA University , Hanoi 12116 , Vietnam .
Received : 4 October 2023 / Accepted : 11 December 2023
Abstract – This paper mentions the status of diagnostic medical physicists , estimating the lack of this work in Vietnam . The evaluation method is based on International Atomic Energy Agency documents and typical hospital models in Vietnam . In 2021 , there were no diagnostic medical physicists . The roles and responsibilities of diagnostic medical physicists are currently performed by radiologists , biomedical engineers , and medical physicists in radiation oncology or nuclear medicine . This job is still a potential profession in Vietnam .
Keywords : Medical Physics / medical physicist / classification / ISCO-08 / 34 / 2020 / QD-TTg
1 Introduction
Following International Organization for Medical Physics ( IOMP ) Policy Statement No . 1 , medical physics is a branch of Applied Physics , pursued by medical physicists , that uses physics principles , methods and techniques in practice and research for the prevention , diagnosis and treatment of human diseases with a specific goal of improving human health and well-being ( IOMP , 2010 ). Medical physicists ( position code according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations 2008 , unit group 2111 ) has been classified in the sub-major group 21 ‘ Science and Engineering Professionals ’ ( ILO , 2012 ). They are not belonging in the sub-major 22 ‘ Health professionals ’ but their occupation are recognized in the note as an integral part of the health work force alongside those occupations classified in sub-major group 22 ( ILO , 2012 ; Prime Minister of Vietnam , 2020 ).
In Vietnam , pursuant to the Prime Minister ’ s Decision No . 34 / 2020 / QD-TTg dated November 26 , 2020 on Introducing classification list of occupations of Vietnam , medical physicists are recognized under the name ‘ Nhà vật ly y tế ’ ( Prime Minister of Vietnam , 2020 ). At hospitals , medical physicists mainly work in the radiotherapy and nuclear medicine departments . The responsibilities of these staff are specified in the Decision No . 1895 / 1997 / QD-BYT dated September 19 , 1997 of the Minister of Health on Hospital Regulations , only in radiation treatment and nuclear medicine departments ( Vietnam Ministry of Health , 1997 ). The
* Corresponding author : nguyentienquan189 @ gmail . com regulations do not mention diagnostic medical physicists . The role and responsibilities of the workforce are shown in International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) Human Health Service Series No . 25 . The growing medical imaging applications require increasingly professional human resources . Following Hoang et al ., 2018 . there is a certain growth in the number of medical physicists in Vietnam ( Hoang et al ., 2018a , 2018b ). However , diagnostic medical physicists have not been mentioned clearly .
The purpose of this paper is to study the current status of medical physicists in diagnostic departments in Vietnam and estimate the lack of a workforce based on the IAEA methodology , which requires increasingly professional human resources . This is of outstanding importance since medical imaging is one of the main sources of patient exposure and contributes to a significant part of population exposure ( Bourguignon , 2021 ). This asks for optimization procedures in the form of establishment of DRLs for instance ( Bertho and Habib-Geryes , 2023 ). This is one of the main roles of medical physicists as underlined in IAEA recommendations ( IAEA , 2013 )
2 Material and method
A detailed algorithm to describe the required numbers of medical physicists in a diagnostic imaging department has been developed by the IAEA . The components of the algorithm include input variables , weighting factors and an output variable , with the output being the total number of medical physicists ( N MP ) needed to deliver the service ( formula 1 )( IAEA , 2018 ):