Science diplomacy in medical physics - an international perspective

Eva Bezak; Cari Borrás; Francis Hasford; Nupur Karmaker; Angela Keyser; Magdalena Stoeva; Christoph Trauernicht; Hong Chai Yeong; Loredana G Marcu

doi:10.1007/s12553-023-00756-0

Science diplomacy in medical physics - an international perspective

Health Technol (Berl). 2023;13(3):495-503. doi: 10.1007/s12553-023-00756-0. Epub 2023 May 6.

Authors

Eva Bezak^{1

2

3

4}, Cari Borrás⁵, Francis Hasford^{6

7

3}, Nupur Karmaker⁸, Angela Keyser⁹, Magdalena Stoeva^{10

3}, Christoph Trauernicht^{7

11}, Hong Chai Yeong^{12

13}, Loredana G Marcu^{1

14

15}

Affiliations

¹ Medical Radiations, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA Australia.
² School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5001 Australia.
³ International Organisation for Medical Physics (IOMP), York, UK.
⁴ Asia-Oceania Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (AFOMP), Bangkok, Thailand.
⁵ Radiological Physics and Health Services, Washington, DC USA.
⁶ Department of Medical Physics, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
⁷ Federation of African Medical Physics Organizations (FAMPO), Accra, Ghana.
⁸ Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Gono Bishwabidyalay) University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁹ American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), Richmond, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
¹¹ Division of Medical Physics, Tygerberg Hospital and Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
¹² School of Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylor's University, Subang Jaya, 47500 Malaysia.
¹³ South-East Asian Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (SEAFOMP), Subang Jaya, Malaysia.
¹⁴ Faculty of Informatics and Science, University of Oradea, Oradea, 410087 Romania.
¹⁵ European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP), Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Purpose: Science diplomacy in medical physics is a relatively young research field and translational practice that focuses on establishing international collaborations to address some of the questions biomedical professionals face globally. This paper aims to present an overview of science diplomacy in medical physics, from an international perspective, illustrating the ways collaborations within and across continents can lead to scientific and professional achievements that advance scientific growth and improve patients care.

Methods: Science diplomacy actions were sought that promote collaborations in medical physics across the continents, related to professional and scientific aspects alike.

Results: Several science diplomacy actions have been identified to promote education and training, to facilitate research and development, to effectively communicate science to the public, to enable equitable access of patients to healthcare and to focus on gender equity within the profession as well as healthcare provision. Scientific and professional organizations in the field of medical physics across all continents have adopted a number of efforts in their aims, many of them with great success, to promote science diplomacy and to foster international collaborations.

Conclusions: Professionals in medical physics can advance through international cooperation, by building strong communication across scientific communities, addressing rising demands, exchange scientific information and knowledge.

Keywords: Gender equity; Leadership; Research and development; STEM fields; Scientific collaboration; Teaching and education.

© The Author(s) under exclusive licence to International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (IUPESM) 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.