Book Review
Towards a European Framework for Education and Training in Medical Physics and
Biomedical Engineering. Editor: Z. Kolitsi
IOS Press 2001
The story began in 1119 when the first European university was founded in Bologna.
869 years later The Magna Charta Universitatum was issued in the city. Then in 1999,
29 European ministers in charge of higher education signed the Bologna Declaration.
The aim was to harmonise (not standardise!) European higher education, to create a
European Higher Education Area. Universities and colleges are embedded into society,
thus harmonisation is supposed to promote Europeanisation. This is a sophisticated
process covering various fields. Although there are different interpretations I hope
we all agree that the advantages of Europeanisation by far exceed the disadvantages.
An up-to-date summary of the actual state of the Bologna process is available at the
EUA (European University Association) web site:
www.unige.ch/eua.
The biomedical engineering and medical physics community does not want to miss the bus.
We are working hard to elaborate definitions (biomedical engineer, medical physicist,
clinical engineer, rehabilitation engineer, medical engineer, etc.) and then to get
these definitions widely accepted.
The book helps the harmonisation process in many respects. The first part outlines the
current status of biomedical engineering and medical physics. Following an overview
of the two professions the collected data and recommendations resulting from
international collaboration projects are presented. The Bologna Declaration, with ample
references, closes the first part.
The second part gives the most important results of TEMPERE, a Thematic Network
(Training and Education for Medical Physics and Engineering Reform in Europe). TEMPERE
has resulted in many important achievements: a quality assurance framework, competency
requirements, accreditation and licensing. However, for the biomedical engineering and
medical physics community the most beneficial of these is the suggestion for curricula.
Both medical physics and biomedical engineering should form part of the curriculum of
MSc courses, or according to the Bologna Declaration for the second cycle. The
curriculum outlines are flexible enough to aid harmonisation and not standardisation.
The IFMBE "White Paper on Accreditation of Biomedical Engineering Programs in Europe"
makes reference to TEMPERE and suggests a similar structure. ABET recommendations are
also close to that of TEMPERE. I do hope that the biomedical engineering and medical
physics community accepts this recommendation and accommodates all programs, thus
promoting student and staff mobility, international accreditation and quality assurance
in the field.
The third part of the book is about the way forward. I have to admit I read these pages
(only 11!) first. Let me cite one sentence: "But we, the biomedical engineers in
Europe, are not working together towards a common goal." Hopefully by creating a
European umbrella organisation this situation will change and we will have a loud
enough unified voice that will be heard at both European and national level.
Who should read the book? I'd say it should be on the shelf of every professor
responsible for biomedical and medical physics programs. They can make good use of it
when they are considering a revision of their programs.
Ákos Jobbágy PhD
Associate Professor
Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary
Email: jobbagy@mit.bme.hu
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