AAPM Newsletter | Jan/Feb 2020 Vo l u m e 4 5 , N o . 1
PRESIDENT’S REPORT, Cont.
4. AAPM has the framework through Memoranda of Understanding to work with sister organizations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to collaborate on global health activities. 5. AAPM has established a robust collaborative relationship with diagnostic and therapy vendors who expect AAPM to take the lead in global health. Vendors feel strongly that AAPM is in a unique position to help them with the safe and efficient deployment of their products around the world. 6. From a strategic perspective, the growth of medical physics over the next ten years is likely to be greater in LMICs; estimates indicate that 40,000+ medical physicists are needed in these settings. Therefore, if the AAPM wants to grow its base and influence, a key method of doing so will be through engagement of international members. 7. AAPM has the opportunity to market its intellectual/ educational resources to the global community in addition to providing guest lecturers at international meetings and training courses. AAPM is in a leadership position to create an infrastructure that can facilitate the participation of medical physicists in global health collaborations, reaching beyond its traditional and historic role to impact the world with mutual benefits and new advances in the field. Specifically, such global engagement benefits medical physics by: • Engaging more individuals to participate in advancing the field of medical physics. • Creating visibility for medical physicists and the important work they do. • Taking advantage of new opportunities including funding to support the work of medical physicists. • Developing international collaborations which enhance the creativity and productivity of medical physics advancements. • Broadening global experience by learning new cultures and healthcare systems. • Creating new opportunities for research and education collaborations. • Improving clinical proficiency with exposure to different and complex cases. • Supporting medical physics activities in both wellresourced and underserved regions of the world.
As many other disciplines have realized, for AAPM to stay increasingly relevant in today’s world, we must make a more concerted effort to participate in global health activities. With recent advances in information and communication technologies, and artificial intelligence, many specialties are leveraging these technologies to overcome these barriers and engage with the rest of the world. Today, local health is global health and vice versa; discoveries or newly developed technologies in other countries can help advance clinical care in the USA, and vice versa. It is important to recognize that the scope of international activities has grown much broader than what was envisioned by AAPM leadership a decade ago. It has outgrown the present Committee structure within the AAPM. A holistic approach to international activities is crucial to ensuring that our efforts are coordinated and efficient, and that lessons learned and resources created from activities working in one region of the world are shared with groups working in other regions of the world or with other non-profit organizations involved in international activities involving medical physics. AAPM’s international programs should be thoughtfully evaluated so as to have the greatest impact within finite budget allotments. All international programs and activities should have measurable metrics associated with them for continuous assessment of their impact. As the leading medical physics organization in the world, AAPM is in a unique position to influence the practice of medical physics globally from the perspective of training, education, scientific development, and professional growth. The AAPM should develop an infrastructure with operational parameters for global activities that have the following attributes: Vision: To have a sustainable, measurable, and meaningful impact on global health as it relates to the practice of medical physics, the international medical physics communities, and medical disciplines associated with medical physics (e.g., radiology, nuclear medicine, and radiation oncology). Goal: To identify and develop strategies for advancing the practice of medical physics globally and to address global disparities in healthcare and develop mitigation strategies in collaboration with other stakeholders that include: www.aapm.org | 7