2023 · Advances in Radiation Oncology
Afua A. Yorke, Vonetta M. Williams, Shekinah N.C. Elmore, Kellie Alleyne-Mike, Eric Addison, Philip Oppong Kyeremeh, Samuel …
Purpose: Our purpose was to assess physics quality assurance (QA) practices in less resourced radiation therapy (RT) centers to improve quality of care. Methods and Materials: A preliminary study was conducted in 2020 of 13 select RT centers in 6 countries, and in 2021, our team conducted onsite visits to all the RT centers in Ghana, one of the countries from the initial survey. The RT centers included 1 private and 2 public institutions (denoted as Public-1 and Public-2). Follow-up surveys were sent to 17 medical physicists from the site visit. Questions centered on the topics of equipment, institutional practice, physics quality assurance, management, and safety practices. Qualitative and descriptive methods were used for data analysis. Questions regarding operational challenges (machine downtime, patient-related issues, power outages, and staffing) were asked on a 5-point Likert scale. Results: The preliminary survey from 2020 had a 92% response rate. One key result showed that for RT centers in lower gross national income per capita countries there was a direct correlation between QA needs and the gross national income per capita of the country. The needs identified included film/array detectors, independent dose calculation software, calibration of ion chambers, diodes, thermoluminiscence diodes (TLDs), phantoms for verification, Treatment Planning System (TPS) test phantoms, imaging test phantoms and film dosimeters, education, and training. For the post survey after the site visit in 2021, we received a 100% response rate. The private and the Public-1 institutions each have computed tomography simulators located in their RT center. The average daily patient external beam workload for each clinic on a linear accelerator was: private = 25, Public-1 = 55, Public-2 = 40. The Co-60 workload was: Public-1 = 45, Public-2 = 25 (there was no Co-60 at the private hospital). Public-1 and -2 lacked the equipment necessary to conform to best practices in Task Group reports (TG) 142 and 198. Public-2 reported significant operational challenges. Notably, Public-1 and -2 have peer review chart rounds, which are attended by clinical oncologists, medical physicists, physicians, and physics trainees. All 17 physicists who responded to the post site visit survey indicated they had a system of documenting, tracking, and trending patient-related safety incidents, but only 1 physicist reported using International Atomic Energy Agency Safety in Radiation Oncology. Conclusions: The preliminary study showed a direct correlation between QA needs and the development index of a country, and the follow-up survey examines operational and physics QA practices in the RT clinics in Ghana, one of the initial countries surveyed. This will form the basis of a planned continent-wide survey in Africa intended to spotlight QA practices in low- and middle-income countries, the challenges faced, and lessons learned to help understand the gaps and needs to support local physics QA and management programs. Audits during the site visit show education and training remain the most important needs in operating successful QA programs.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.adro.2023.1013352022 · Health and Technology
Christoph Trauernicht, Francis Hasford, N. Khelassi-Toutaoui, Imen Bentouhami, Peter Knoll, Virginia Tsapaki
Abstract The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) developed a staffing model to estimate the number of clinically qualified medical physicists (CQMP) that are required in an imaging facility, including diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine. For the first time this staffing model was applied on a large scale across Africa. Within the framework of the IAEA African Regional Agreement (AFRA) Technical Cooperation (TC) project RAF6/053 entitled “Enhancing Capacity Building of Medical Physics to Improve Safety and Effectiveness of Medical Imaging (AFRA)”, a survey based on the IAEA staffing model was used to investigate the current CQMP workforce needs in imaging and radionuclide therapy in Africa in order to establish a baseline, identify gaps and suggest steps for improvement. The survey was open for five months, after which data verification was performed. 82 responses were received from 21 countries, including data from 97 diagnostic radiology and 40 nuclear medicine departments, as well as 75 interventional radiology departments and/or catheterization laboratories. Only 26·8% of centres employed an adequate number of CQMPs. The staffing model indicated that 134·3 CQMPs were required for these centres, but only 63 are currently employed in medical imaging and/or nuclear medicine at these centres. At least 11 countries do not have a single institution with an adequate number of CQMPs. Data analysis indicated that the number of radiology and nuclear medicine CQMPs is largely inadequate, at least by a factor of 20 in almost all countries in the region.
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DOI: 10.1007/s12553-022-00663-w2020 · Nature Reviews Physics
Rabia Salihu Sa’id, Ibiyinka Fuwape, Alain M. Dikandé, J. Mimouni, Francis Hasford, Delia A. Haynes, Irvy Ma Gledhill, Georg…
Africa tends to be isolated and sometimes forgotten when it comes to scientific research and in particular physics. But the region has great potential, being home to the youngest population in the world, and despite a variety of issues, there has been steady, albeit uneven progress towards establishing a scientific infrastructure. Ten African researchers discuss the diverse challenges and opportunities faced by physicists across the continent. Ten African researchers discuss the varied challenges and opportunities faced by physicists across the continent. Rabia Salihu Sa’id is a full professor of Atmospheric Physics at Bayero University, Kano, in Nigeria. She holds a PhD, MSc and BSc in Physics and an MSc in Environment and Development, and is an expert in the effects of dust aerosols on climate and air quality measurements. In 2015, she received the OWSD (Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World)/ TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences)/Elsevier Foundation Award for Early Career (Physics), which rewards and encourages women working and living in developing countries who are in the early stages of their scientific careers, having often overcome great challenges to achieve research excellence. Ibiyinka Fuwape has been a professor of physics at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria since 1989. She is currently the Vice Chancellor of the Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria. Her research interests include theory of chaos and application of nonlinear dynamics in coupled oscillator systems, neuronal systems, and lower and upper atmospheric research. She is an alumna of the Schlumberger Faculty of the Future Fellowship programme. Alain Moise Dikandé (full professor in physics) is Head of the Physics Department, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Cameroon. He is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in the ‘Experienced Researchers’ Category, a Senior Associate of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP, Trieste, Italy), guest editor of the special issue of the Journal of the Optical Society of America (JOSA A and B): Optics in Africa and member of the editorial board of Journal of Optics. Jamal Mimouni is an Algerian astrophysicist, who received his higher education between Algiers University and the United States (PhD in Particle Physics in 1985, University of Pennsylvania). He is the head of a graduate programme in astrophysics at Constantine 1 University in Algeria, and the President of the African Astronomical Society. He is an active participant in the debate on science and society in the Arab-Muslim World. Francis Hasford is the Head of Medical Physics at the University of Ghana and Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Secretary General of the Federation of African Medical Physics Organizations, expert medical physicist for the International Atomic Energy Agency and member of the IOMP (International Organization for Medical Physics) Web Sub-committee. He received his PhD from the University of Ghana and is an associate of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics. He is the recipient of the 2016 International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP)/IOMP Young Scientist Award in Medical Physics. Delia Haynes did her PhD at Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship with the Pfizer Institute for Pharmaceutical Materials Science, also at Cambridge. She has been at Stellenbosch University since 2007, where she is now a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science. Delia is the chair of the Steering Committee to form the African Crystallographic Association. Irvy (Igle) Gledhill spent time at the University of California, Los Angeles and Stanford before moving to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa, her home country. She is now Visiting Professor of Flow Physics at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is a past president of the South African Institute of Physics and a Vice-President of the Network of African Science Academies. She edits . George Amolo is a professor of physics and Director of the School of Physics and Earth Science, The Technical University of Kenya, Nairobi, and a research associate in Computational Modelling and Materials Science with the Kenya Education Network (KENET). He received his PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and worked in the University of Eldoret and Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya, before moving to the Technical University of Kenya in 2016. Omololu Akin-Ojo received his BSc and MSc Physics degrees from the University of Ibadan, and his PhD from the University of Delaware (USA). Following two postdoctoral stints at Boston University and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Trieste, Italy, he returned to Africa — first to Nigeria and now Rwanda as Director of the East African Institute for Fundamental Research , a physics training and research hub. His main research interest is in condensed matter physics and its applications for African development and advancement. Nashwa Eassa is an associate professor of physics and the Dean of the Deanship of Scientific Research at Al Neelain University. She undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in the Nanophotonics group at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), South Africa. She holds a PhD in physics from NMMU and Master of Science in material physics and nanotechnology from Linköping University, Sweden.
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DOI: 10.1038/s42254-020-0239-8