Inter-University Education Centre and MSc Course in Medical Radiation Physics and Engineering

Introduction

The growing importance of medical physics and engineering to contemporary medicine provoked numerous professional discussions all over the world. One of these was the First European Conference on Postgraduate Education in Medical Radiation Physics (Budapest 1994), organised by the Dept of Medical Engineering and Physics at King's College London (EC Project CIPA). At the conference representatives of 37 European Universities from 24 countries presented the status and trends of their education in medical physics and engineering. The focus of this Euro-Conference was on the radiation use in medicine. The teaching programmes of 31 European countries were collected after the conference and published in the book Medical Radiation Physics - A European Perspective [1]. The book was the first on this topic and was distributed all over Europe in order to strengthen the European collaboration in this field.   

Following the conference, a European Academic Network on Medical Physics and Engineering Education and Training was formed. This network facilitated the development of a Joint-European Project ERM [2], the objective of which was the development of a one year postgraduate course (MSc) in Medical Radiation Physics and Engineering (MRPE). The project started in 1995 with the following Partners: King's College London - Contractor and Co-ordinator, University of Florence, University of Dublin and three Bulgarian Universities - Medical University VMI - Plovdiv, Technical University -br. Plovdiv, University of Plovdiv.

Inter-University Centre

In general, education in medical radiation is very expensive (related to special equipment, hospital time and limited number of lecturers). This creates difficulties for organising MRPE courses in many countries, passing through economic constraints, often making it almost impossible. The project consortium decided that this could be overcome by co-operation between several different faculties, bringing together different expertise, equipment and skills. Due to this reason the first step of the project was to establish a new joint education structure - Inter-University Centre for Education in Medical Radiation Physics/ Engineering (IUC). It was based at the Medical University - VMI Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The centre consists of two radiation laboratories, lecture room and offices. Modern computer and radiation measurement equipment was installed in the centre. The libraries, laboratories and diagnostic/ therapeutic equipment of Plovdiv's Medical University, Technical University - br.Plovdiv, Dept of Atomic Physics at Plovdiv University are also used for the education process.

Staffing and Curriculum

After thorough research of the existing courses the course curriculum was prepared in line with the best international standards and followed the UK IPEM criteria. Having in mind the new Euratom Directive 97/43, the MSc course was focused on medical radiation physics. However, special attention was given to subjects related to the engineering of medical radiation equipment - its maintenance and quality assurance.   

Thirty highly experienced lecturers were chosen from different universities, hospitals and institutions (24 of them hold PhDs and DScs, including 16 Professors). In order to arrange their contribution to the teaching process the course was developed as fully modularised. The length of each module is from 1 to 3 weeks. All modules are taught intensively during the week, minimum 6 academic hours per day. Special syllabi, teaching materials and lecture notes were written for each module. Many modules include multimedia and other interactive and simulation PC programmes. All teaching in the course is conducted in English.   

The newly created MSc/Diploma course consists of 12 modules, divided in two terms (one full academic year). The total length of the course is approximately 850 academic hours. The course curriculum is as follows:

TERM 1 (September - December)

  1. Basis of Human Anatomy and Physiology (approx. 90 acad. hours; test assessment)
  2. Radiation Physics (approx. 90 acad. hours; exam)
  3. Radiation Measurements (approx. 90 acad. hours ; exam)
  4. Radiobiology (approx. 60 acad. hours, test assessment)
  5. Physics and Equipment of Ultrasound, Lasers, NMR (approx. 90 acad. hours, exam)

TERM 2 - 1st part (January - March)

  1. Physics and Equipment of Diagnostic Radiology (approx. 80 acad. hours, exam)
  2. Physics and Equipment of Nuclear Medicine (approx. 80 acad. hours, exam)
  3. Physics and Equipment of Radiotherapy (approx. 80 acad. hours, exam)
  4. Image and Signal Processing in Medicine (approx. 60 acad. hours, test assessment)

MSc Thesis Assignment

TERM 2 - continued (April - May)

  1. Radiation Protection and Hos-pital Safety (approx. 80 acad. hours, tests, certif.)
  2. Medical Informatics (approx. 30 acad. hours, test)
  3. European Integration (approx. 30 acad. hours, test, optional) Awarding of Postgraduate Diploma in MRPE

MSc THESIS Term

Normally the work on the MSc thesis takes 4-6 months, followed by a thesis defence (viva-voce).

MSc Course Organisation

The course was developed with two levels of graduation: Postgraduate Diploma and MSc degree:

  1. All students who pass all exams in the first and second term (semester) receive a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Radiation Physics (MRP).
  2. All students who pass all exams with a mean result above 50% receive a Postgraduate Diploma on MRP plus an MSc thesis assignment. The work on the MSc thesis follows after the end of the second term. On successful thesis defence (viva-voce), students graduate with an MSc degree in Medical Radiation Physics.
  3. Attending separate modules (as a Continuing Development Course - CPD) is also possible (by prior arrangement). In this case a separate CPD Certificate is issued.

Students are accepted on the basis of a minimum of four years' university education (BSc) in the following specialities: physics, applied physics, engineering physics, electronics, computer engineering, automatics engineering, or equivalent. A good command of English is also required. The centre admits approximately 15 post-graduate students per academic year. These are registered with the Faculty of Physics to the University of Plovdiv.   

The examination of some of the course modules is with regular tests. Completion of other modules is based on written examination. Unsuccessful students can re-sit the exam during the holiday period. In order to comply with the international norms, an independent external examiner was appointed to the IUV.

Impact of the Inter-University Centre

The education activities of the IUC began during 1997. High Bulgarian Officials officially opened the first academic year. A third group of students are attending the course at the moment. In addition to the students, external specialists have attended selected modules of the course as CPD activities. During 1999 the UK Institute for Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) accredited the MSc course in the IUC.   

Three national seminars were organised by the IUC: a two-day Seminar on Quality Assurance in Diagnostic Radiology (DR, NT, RT), a two-day Seminar on Treatment Planning in Radiotherapy and a two-day Seminar on the new EC EurAtom Directives 96/29 on the Radiation Protection of Workers and 97/43 on the Radiation Protection of Patients. These activities led to the inclusion of IUC in one further EU project (including the 3 Baltic states, Sweden and UK) and in an IAEA project.

The books with lecture notes [3] produced for the MSc course were printed by the specially established foundation for distribution to other courses. These are:

  • Basis of Human Anatomy and Physiology;
  • Radiation Physics;
  • Radiation Measurements;
  • Basis of Radiobiology;
  • Ultrasonic Medical Instrumen-tation;
  • Lasers for Medicine;
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging;
  • Diagnostic Radiology - Physics and Equipment;
  • Nuclear Medicine - Physics and Equipment;
  • Radiotherapy - Physics and Equipment;
  • Signal and Image Processing in Medicine;
  • Radiation Protection and Hospital Safety;
  • Information Technology in Medicine;
  • Introduction to European Integration

The IUC was one of the first education centres in Bulgaria developed in accordance with the new Higher Education Law of the country. Following the success of the project the Bulgarian Society of Biomedical Physics and Engineering awarded the Contractor and the Co-ordinator (C. Roberts and S. Tabakov) with its medal and the Medical University (VMI) Plovdiv presented its Doctor Honoris Causa degree to Colin Roberts.   

Information, links and addresses for the Inter-University Centre can be found at its websites at: www.kcl.ac.uk/erm or through the website of the project EMERALD - www.emerald2.net.

References

[1] C. Roberts, S. Tabakov, C. Lewis, Medical Radiation Physics - A European Perspective, ISBN 1 870722027, King's College London, 1995.

[2] EC programme PHARE, Tempus project (Contract) SJEP-09826-95

[3] Publisher: Foundation Physics-Engineering-Medicine Plovdiv, BG, gbelev@ulcc.uni-plovdiv.bg Slavik Tabakov and Colin Roberts