Under the AAPM’s new International Council and Global Needs Assessment Committee, Dr Izabella Barreto organized a session at the 2021 19th South-East Asian Congress of Medical Physics, the 13th Annual Congress of Thai Medical Physicist Society and the 14th Annual ASEAN College Of Medical Physics on Phuket island, Thailand. Together with the Chairman of the AAPM Board of Directors, Dr Saiful Huq, and the Chair of the AAPM’s Equipment Donation Program Subcommittee, Stephanie Parker, the team presented on Global Engagement through the AAPM’s International Council.
Abstract: The demand for diagnostic and therapeutic equipment for cancer in low to middle income countries, as well as the associated relevant personnel, is expected to increase dramatically over the next five years. Consequently, this will lead to an increased need for additional resources and infrastructure to train and educate professionals to use such technologies safely and effectively. Despite efforts by professional organizations and international agencies to mitigate these challenges, there has been limited success due to limited coordination of efforts. In order to better address these challenges, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) has made a strategic decision to coordinate all international activities under its new International Council (IC). The structure of IC will support efforts in education, clinical training, research, and collaboration with other global stakeholders that has largely been unexplored. In this session, we’ll describe the need for global collaboration, the structure of the IC, and the immediate steps taken by the Global Needs Assessment Committee, including the Global Representatives Subcommittee and the Equipment Donation Program Subcommittee.
The GNAC has recently finalized a needs assessment survey and through the GRSC, will distribute it to medical physicists and institutional leaders in low-to-middle income countries to help guide future activities of the IC and EDPSC.