Dear members and friends of MPWB, 

Thanks a lot to those who have attended one of our two Annual General Meetings (AGMs). I hope you found it informative and we would love to get feedback in particular regarding things we can improve. 

This is my last message as MPWB president and I am delighted to hand over to Afua Yorke who is a great person coming with new ideas while knowing the organisation well and building on present strengths. MPWB will enter 2025 with a new structure involving a management committee and a few other working groups which will allow more members to get involved in activities. Also, the work involving more regular communications as per the schedule shared at the AGM and particularly the update of our webpage is on our agenda. The first communication will be a newsletter in January 2025 and I would like to encourage you to submit a contribution. We would be particularly interested in publishing thoughts about the medical physics profession in your country. 

Given the success of our IDMP poetry competition I am aiming to establish a poetry corner on the webpage and hope all contributors are happy to see their work on our webpage. We will contact authors about it. 

Stepping down from the presidency will allow me to devote more time to actual projects and I have a few things in mind. Setting up clinical training programs is one of my interests and I will have an opportunity to contribute to an IAEA workshop with this topic in Hanoi early January. I also hope to get more involved with mentorship and support John Schreiner in building on the results of our survey a few years back (https://journals.lww.com/jomp/fulltext/2024/10000/virtual_mentoring_for_medical_physicists__results.23.aspx). This is an important topic and I wonder how much practical work could be facilitated in this way using for example life video communication. 

Two years of chairing MPWB meetings at early hours in the morning taught me the importance of time zones. In this context, I would like to explore if there is enough interest to establish a MPWB chapter in the Asia Pacific region. How this can work and how it can actually add to the number of excellent medical physics organisations in the region is something to be explored.  

I would love to hear from you regarding these thoughts. 

Finally, my sincere thanks to all MPWB members and supporters for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the organisation. I should particularly thank my fellow board members for their support and a number of previous board members who continue to carry the organisation forward. 

Best wishes and all the best for 2025 

Tomas 

(Tomas.Kron@petermac.org)  

News Brief: Friday, December 23, 2024 Thank you to everyone who participated in the International Day of Medical Physics Poem Competition this year! We received 9 inspiring entries that celebrated the field of medical physics. We are excited to announce the winners of this year’s competition, as announced during the AGM. Each of the following winners will receive a pair of MPWB socks as a token of our appreciation for their outstanding submissions: Malamati Gkaravela Alberto Pérez Rozos Andrew Zwaniga Congratulations to the winners! Your contributions have highlighted the beauty and impact of medical physics in a unique and artistic way. Stay tuned for more events and opportunities to engage with the medical physics community! Thoughts under the beam Inside the treatment room, there is much light It feels so cold, even though it is bright A few sessions and you will be all right Many have passed, but you still wonder why Another prescription, couple of "Grays" Then you will feel better, if that is true You would be grateful, I know that for sure Already a month away from your home It must be hard going through it alone Memories of a life simple, yet sweet You could do anything to relive it Another day, getting closer to death Missing your dear ones, but still hanging on Guess this may be it; where everything ends Malamati Gk. Precise beams align, Healing depths unseen by eyes— Physics saves the soul. Beams of hope unite, Physics leads a joyful fight, Love and life take flight. Best regards, Alberto Pérez Rozos Cascade Aid The emptiness In my inner orbit What lived there just To my unstable core did lust. I relaxed A cascade stacked And my clouded cover Left my sphere like thunder. The nanometer Gave my effect a theatre To stage my damage And the cancer manage. To deliver The killing dose I must on DNA close Or my electrons wither: So give me transport Thru the nuclear port Or on the membrane Plaster me plain. Andrew Zwaniga Sincerely, The MPWB Team MPWBs vision is a world with access to effective and safe applications of physics and technology in medicine. Our mission is to support activities which will yield effective and safe use of physics and technologies in medicine through advising, training, demonstrating, and/or participating in medical physics-related activities, especially in low to middle income countries. Please visit our website www.mpwb.org for more details.

Medical Physics for World Benefit (MPWB) Canada & MPWB USA invite all members to attend the upcoming Annual General Meeting. Two identical sessions will be offered to accommodate our global membership.

Date: Thursday, December 5, 2024
Times: 6:00 am ET (11AM GMT) and 3:00 pm ET (8PM GMT)
Platform: Zoom

Purpose:
Join us as we discuss the past year's accomplishments, current projects, and strategic priorities for the future. Your input and engagement are vital to our continued success.

AGM Agenda

1. Welcome and Review of Agenda (Tomas Kron)
2. Review and Approval of AGM Records
   • Minutes from December 23, 2023 (attached)
3. Reports (20 min)
   • President’s Report (Tomas Kron)
   • Secretary and Treasurer’s Report (Monique van Prooijen)
   • Communication Manager’s Report (Navid Khaledi)
4. Membership Fees and Other Income Streams
5. Major Projects Update (10 min)
   • Open Syllabus (Parminder Basran)
   • Mentorship (John Schreiner)
   • Webinars (Eduard Gershkevitsh)
6. IDMP Competition (Tomas Kron)
7. Membership Discussion
   • Strategic Priorities
   • Growth
   • Engagement
8. Questions

Please let us know if you would like anything else discussed as part of the agenda.

Register:

To celebrate International Day of Medical Physics (IDMP), November 7, Medical Physics for World Benefits (MPWB) is holding a competition for medical physicists all over the world. We are launching a Poem competition. Poems should have some relation to medical physics and consist of no more than 14 lines, which fits anything from Haikus to Sonnets. Contributions can be in any language – if in a language other than English please attempt to provide also an English translation and more importantly an audio recording of the Poem to allow the judges to appreciate rhythm and sound. Anyone can contribute up to two poems with a deadline of November 30, 2024 (UTC – 11hours time zone)*. The board of MPWB will decide on a shortlist of winners to be presented at the Annual General Meeting of MPWB in December. The three contributions judged to be best by the panel will receive a pair of unique MPWB socks as ultimate fashion accessory. To get into the mood, here is a Haiku example:   Socks are like Physics Often unseen, always on Quality comfort         Tomas Kron, PhD on behalf of the MPWB Board     * Send your poems to medphyswb@gmail.com with the subject line “IDMP Poem”

Dear colleagues and friends,

Volunteer organisations such as MPWB are an interesting lot. I had the privilege to be involved with a few medical physics ones and find some common features which are both challenging and encouraging:

1.       Working with colleagues who share similar expertise, experiences and aspirations is a privilege and pleasure.
2.       Most of us have daytime jobs – I am always aware that there is so much more I could do for MPWB (alas, there are risks to control, people to manage, QA to be organised and time sheets to be signed at the home front)
3.       Volunteer organisations rely on their members. There is no shortage of good will by everyone, but practicalities make involvement of members often difficult in particular in an organisation that is truly international. Time zones, cultural differences and the complexity of some tasks call for patience.
4.       Medical Physics is much more important than most people think. In most health care systems, there is appreciation of the importance of technology and computing; however, awareness of medical physics as the key profession in this space is often lacking. Therefore, medical physics is often an afterthought and not part of the initial planning.
5.       Keeping all this in mind we have tried to hit the refresh button in MPWB to:
a.       Introduce a management committee
b.       Try to be more active and regular in terms of communication
c.       Create a new logo
d.       Upgrade/update the webpage
e.       Launch a Poem competition for IDMP (more to be announced on IDMP)

Give us a bit of time and watch this space – we are committed to make this happen. Most importantly, we would like to get all members involved: if you have any ideas or would like to support a particular initiative, please get in touch.

Tomas

Tomas Kron, PhD, FIOMP

President MPWB

Director of Physical Sciences

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Tomas.Kron@petermac.org

Speaker:

Dr. Samantha Simiele (USA)

Moderators:

Sarah Ashmeg and Arjit Baghwala

Date: Tuesday, 24 th September

Time: 09:00 ET (15:00 CET)

The registration link for the webinar is here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pnZl3_xBSSa6NO7PFXpICA

Dr. Samantha Simiele is the Chief of Brachytherapy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is an active member of the American Brachytherapy Society and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. She is a member of the AAPM’s Working Group on Medical Errors in Brachytherapy and has co-authored multiple medical physics practice guidelines and task groups focused on brachytherapy.

At the COMP ASM 2024, a presentation titled "Levelling the Playing Field: Access to Resources for Medical Physicists Everywhere" highlighted the initiatives and progress of Medical Physics for World Benefit (MPWB). The presentation focused on MPWB's vision, mission, and recent activities.

Key Points from the Presentation:

1. MPWB Vision and Mission:

   - Vision: A world with access to safe and effective applications of physics and technology in medicine.

   - Mission: Support the effective and safe use of physics and technologies in medicine, especially in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs) through education, training, mentoring, and collaboration.

2. Organizational Structure and Leadership:

   - Founded by Jacob Van Dyk and co-founders Yakov Pipman, Jerry White, David Wilkins, Parminder Basran, and Robert Jeraj.

   - Current Board of Directors includes: Tomas Kron (Australia), PresidentAfua Yorke (USA), President-elect

John Schreiner (Canada), Past-President

Nancy Barrett, Advisor, CEO

Monique Van Prooijen (Canada), Secretary/Treasurer

Navid Khaledi (Canada), Director of Communications

Eduard Gershkevitsh (Estonia), Director of Fund Raising

3. Support for LMICs:

   - Focus on individualized education, training, and mentoring.

   - Emphasis on building long-term relationships and providing nimble assistance and consultation.

4. Membership Growth:

   - Significant increase in membership from 244 in 2022 to 561 in 2024, demonstrating the growing global reach and impact of MPWB.

5. Webinar Series:

   - MPWB has hosted numerous webinars covering topics like radionuclide dosimetry, high dose rate brachytherapy, and the impact of COVID-19 on medical physics practice.

6. New MSc Program in Kenya:

   - In collaboration with Academic Without Borders (AWB) and Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST), MPWB assisted in developing a new MSc in Medical Physics program in Kenya.

   - The program was approved by MUST and is awaiting full approval from the Kenyan Commission for University Education (CUE).

7. Virtual Mentorship Program:

   - MPWB aims to establish a sustainable mentorship program with defined goals, performance metrics, and global reach.

   - Initial efforts are focused on developing policies and matching mentors with mentees.

8. Other Key Projects:

   - Participation in the first Jamaican Association for Physics in Medicine sponsored Caribbean Conference.

   - Collaboration with training programs in Argentina and coordination with the Federation of African Medical Physics Organizations (FAMPO) to enhance medical physics training in Malawi, Zimbabwe, and beyond.

9. Open Syllabus Project:

   - Addressing the need for accessible, high-quality educational resources for medical physics residents in LMICs.

   - Development of an open syllabus capturing core competencies and linking to online educational resources.

2024 MPWB session COMP penult.pdf

The Medical Physics for World Benefits (MPWB) initiative announces the offering of awards to provide access to the educational, professional, and scientific resources of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) 66th annual meeting, scheduled for 2024. The primary objectives of this initiative are twofold: to enhance access to high-quality resources for medical physicists from low and middle-income countries (LMIC), and to foster the advancement of medical physics within their respective nations.

Successful applicants will receive a complimentary registration granting access to the content of the AAPM 66th annual meeting, accessible on-demand. Recordings of sessions will be available on the meeting platform, with post-session availability for up to 24 hours. Registrants will retain access to all recordings for one year following the event, facilitating flexible viewing.

To be considered for the award, interested individuals must complete and submit the online form "APPLICATION FORM MPWB sponsored AAPM".

The application deadline is June 7th, 2024. Applicants must meet specific criteria, including residing and working as a medical physicist in an LMIC, possessing a minimum of two years of relevant work experience, and demonstrating a need to attend the meeting.

Evaluation of applications will prioritize active members of MPWB, medical physicists from the lowest income countries according to World Bank data, and those who have not previously received the award. Additionally, consideration will be given to achieving geographical diversity and gender balance among awardees.

The number of awards granted will be limited, with successful applicants notified of their selection by July 8th, 2024. Registration for the AAPM meeting will be completed by July 15th, 2024, ahead of the meeting's commencement on July 21st, 2024.

For more information and to access the application form, visit https://w4.aapm.org/meetings/2024AM/ or contact MPWB at medphyswb@gmail.com.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11aXK6P-KS3C205Kv-cc10OgSLVHElYgJ/view

Sincerely,

The MPWB Team

Register: https://buff.ly/3Q02VIX  

Dr. John L Humm is attending physicist and chief of the molecular and X-ray imaging physics service at Department of Medical Physics and Radiology of Memorial Solan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Tuesday, 23rd April at 9:00 am EST(15:00 CET)

Speaker: Dr. John L Humm (USA)

Moderators: Sarah Ashmeg and Arjit Baghwala

Register: https://buff.ly/3Q02VIX  

Speaker: Dr. Peter Sandwall (USA)

Moderators: Sarah Ashmeg and Lindsey Bloom

Please register:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5zf3qflOSZ-F3AoiDBPxIg

Peter Sandwall, PhD DABR is a clinical physicist at OhioHealth in Mansfield, Ohio. A first generation Bolivian and second generation Swede, Dr. Sandwall has family in La Paz and Stockholm. This global perspective motivates him to maintain engagement in Global Health endeavors with ongoing projects in Latin America and West Africa. Dr. Sandwall serves on the board of trustees for Radiating Hope, is an active independent consultant, and instructor at his local community college. He is passionate about his family and helping others.