The year 2020 has been a challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The medical physics service, education and training had changed dramatically to adapt to the new norm. Many of the activities to celebrate the International Day of Medical Physics (IDMP) this year had also shifted to online platforms. We highlight the celebration of IDMP in Malaysia at the University of Malaya, the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
University of Malaya
The conduct of medical physics education at the University of Malaya has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching and learning activities are undertaken remotely and on digital platforms. Despite the challenges of adapting to the new normal, the academic staffs under the Master of Medical Physics program continue to strive to provide high-quality postgraduate medical physics education in producing highly-skilled medical physicists.
To commemorate the International Day of Medical Physics 2020, the Master of Medical Physics students combined their theoretical knowledge and creativity in creating a total of five educational video clips in radiobiology and radiation protection topics. Specifically, the topics of the videos are as follow:
- Formation of free radicals
- Radiosensitivity during cell cycle
- Interaction of UV with human eyes
- Radiation protection during fluoroscopy
- Radiation protection in radiotherapy
These videos are uploaded onto the website of UM Medical Physics (https://medicalphysics.um.edu.my/idmp-2020 ) as well as the Facebook page of the UM Medical Physics. In addition, these videos are circulated among the various digital and mobile platforms for a wider audience. Apart from educating the general public on the above topics, this assignment aims to cultivate social responsibility among medical physics students in public outreach and science communication.
The medical physics team from the University of Malaya would like to wish all medical physicists around the globe ‘Happy Medical Physics Day 2020’ and enjoy the video clips!
University of Malaya Medical Centre
The Medical Physics Unit of UMMC organises the ’University of Malaya Medical Centre Webinar Program’ in conjunction with the International Day of Medical Physics 2020 (IDMP 2020). The objective of this program is to celebrate World Medical Physics Day and to promote the Medical Physics profession role in healthcare. It also aims to enhance inter-relationship among all Medical Physicists and other Physicists in Malaysia. Figure 1 shows the promotional poster for the webinar.
Figure 1: The promotional poster for the webinar organised by the Medical Physics Unit of the UMMC.
National Cancer Institute
The medical physicists at the National Cancer Institute created a short video clip to be uploaded on the IAEA website. A preview of the video clip are available here.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17GA9huqs2dSNduPQLZ5yJ3nz8LOdoVzv/view?usp=drivesdk