MEDICAL PHYSICS AT THE ABDUS SALAM ICTP REVIEW OF THE PROGRAMMES AND ACTIVITIES FROM 1982 TO TODAY

THE ABDUS-SALAM ICTP IS AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION, BELONGING TO THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM (THROUGH UNESCO AND IAEA) FOUNDED IN 1964 BY THE INITIATIVE OF THE NOBEL LAUREATE ABDUS SALAM

ITS MANDATE IT TO FOSTER THE ADVANCEMENT OF PHYSICS (BETTER NATURAL SCIENCES) IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ALTHOUGH ITS NAME CONTAINS "THEORETICAL PHYSICS" (MAINLY FOR HISTORICAL REASONS)

IN FACT ITS PROGRAMME COVERS MANY AREAS, BOTH OF FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES. THE ICTP IS AT THE SAME TIME A RESEARCH INSTITUTION

RESEARCH GROUPS IN HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS CONDENSED MATTER EARTH PHYSICS MATHEMATICS OTHERS

AND AN INSTITUTION FOR HIGH LEVEL TRAINING AMONG THE SUBJECTS COVERED IN HIGH LEVEL TRAINING, AN IMPORTANT ROLE IS TAKEN BY MEDICAL PHYSICS

PRESENT ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF MEDICAL PHYISCS AT THE ABDUS SALAM –ICTP PRESENTLY THE ICTP ACTIVITIES IN THE AREA OF MEDICAL PHYSICS COVER:

TRAINING COURSES/SCHOOLS (OFTEN IN COOPERATION WITH THE IAEA); THEY INCLUDE PRACTICALS AT THE TRIESTE HOSPITAL (THROUGH AN ICTP-HOSPITAL AGREEMENT) OR IN THE ICTP INFO LABS

THE ASSOCIATE MEMBERS PROGRAMME TRIL (TRAINING AND RESEARCH IN ITALIAN LABORATORIES); STAGES IN ITALIAN LABS STEP-SANDWICH PROGRAMME (JOINT PH D WITH A HOME UNIVERSITY)

1983 -TRAINING ACTIVITIES BEGIN (Anna Benini, Sergio Mascarenhas) Several workshops

1988 - COLLEGES IN MEDICAL PHYSICS BEGIN (BENINI, CAMERON, SPRAWLS, TABAKOV…) 3-4 WEEK DURATION, 50 – 70 PARTICIPANTS EACH MAINLY DEVOTED TO IMAGING, BUT ALSO RADIOPROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY 14 colleges (last one September 2016) More than 1000 participant trained

SUBJECTS SIMILAR, (WITH UPDATED CHANGES DUE TO MODERN DEVELOPMENTS), BUT STUDENTS FROM DEV .COUNT. ALWAYS NEW AND DIFFERENT; FROM 2012, PRACTICALS AT THE TRIESTE HOSPITAL TRAINING AND EDUCATION STILL BADLY NEEDED

2007 - NEW ADDITION : JOINT ICTP-IAEA ADVANCED SCHOOLS SHORTER DURATION (1 WEEK), DIFFERENT PURPOSE. ORGANIZED BY IAEA EXPERTS ADDRESSED TO PROFESSIONALS WANTING TO IMPROVE (20-25 STUDENTS): SMALLER NUMBER ALSO SINCE:  ESSENTIAL COMPONENT: PRACTICALS AT THE TS HOSPITAL (THROUGH A FORMAL AGREEMENT ICTP-HOSPITAL)  

2016-17 - JOINT ICTP-IAEA ADVANCED SCHOOLS 2016 WORKSHOP ON COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY: QUALITY CONTROL, DOSIMETRY AND OPTIMIZATION 2-13 MAY WORKSHOP ON INTERNAL DOSIMETRY FOR MEDICAL PHYSICISTSSPECIALIZING IN NUCLEAR MEDICINE 21-25 NOVEMBER  

2017 INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF IMAGE GUIDED RADIOTHERAPHY (IGRT) 8 –12 MAY (130 APPLICATIONS) WORKSHOP ON MONTE CARLO RADIATION TRANSPORT AND ASSOCIATED DATA NEEDS FOR MEDICAL APPLICATIONS 18 –29 SEPTEMBER (ALREADY 122 APPLIC.; DEADLINE END MAY)  

2013 addition Training Course on Medical Physics for Radiation Therapy: Dosimetry and Treatment Planning for Basic and Advanced Applications Repeated every two years in the odd years (2013, 2015... 2017) THIS YEAR FROM 27 MARCH TO 7 APRIL 437 APPLICATIONS !

MASTER IN MEDICAL PHYSICS NEW PROGRAMME A two-years Master Course in Medical Physics in cooperation with the Trieste University has been established, starting from January 2014 First year: lectures and practicals in Trieste (ICTP and Hospital) Second year: Residency in an hospital

First cycle: 13 students Second cycle: 13 Students Third cycle: 21 students Fourth cycle : 20 students Total : 67 Most of those for second, third and fourth cycles with IAEA/TC fellowships (total IAEA/TC fellowships 6 + 18 + 15 = 39 External sources: 12

Countries table EUROPE: 4 ASIA: 10 Estonia Bahrein Georgia Bangladesh Montenegro Iran Ukraine Irak Jordan Kazakhstan Nepal Palestine Qatar Vietnam

Countries table ct AFRICA: 16 Burundi Senegal Egypt Sudan Ethiopia Tanzania Gabon Togo Ghana Uganda Kenya Madagascar Mauritius Morocco Nigeria Rwanda

Countries table ct LATIN AMERICA:7 Argentina Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Peru TOTAL: 4 + 10 +16 + 7 = 37