1. the premise and foundation of the development of medical physics in China.
2 1 century, mankind is facing a serious threat of various malignant diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, various tumor diseases, respiratory diseases, hepatobiliary diseases, AIDS and so on. Early diagnosis, accurate diagnosis, timely treatment and precise treatment are the only way for the development of modern clinical medicine and the benefit of mankind, which requires the application of modern advanced medical imaging diagnosis equipment and advanced treatment equipment. These high-tech equipment must be fully cooperated by modern doctors and modern medical physicists, and a large number of modern digital medical instruments must be used effectively to effectively serve patients. This is the requirement of the times. Hospitals in China should also adapt to the requirements of this era. The development of medical physics in China is also the requirement of the times. Medical physicist or medical physicist should have an important position and function in China Hospital, which is also the requirement of the times. Ignoring the training of medical physicists in China and not establishing the post setting of medical physicists in hospitals will not meet the requirements of the times and hinder the development of modern hospitals. We must be soberly aware that the progress of the times is unstoppable, and advancing with the times is the way we should go.
It is the premise and foundation for the development of medical physics in China to establish the status of medical physicist in hospitals and to attach importance to the important role of medical physicist in clinical diagnosis and treatment. The development of any subject is based on the needs of the country, society and professional posts, and it can be fully developed in personnel training, scientific research and professional application. For example, the country, society and hospitals need a large number of doctors to save lives, and a large number of clinical doctors need a large number of medical schools to train a large number of clinicians, which is obvious. The development of medical physics is no exception.
Therefore, we suggest that the Ministry of Health pay attention to the development of medical physics, give it the premise and foundation, and support relevant universities and hospitals to train medical physics talents. This is a major event in medical reform.
2. Famous universities and famous hospitals cooperate to train a new generation of medical physicists.
To develop medical physics in China, we should first fully cooperate with physicists and doctors in famous universities and hospitals to cultivate a new generation of medical physicists who master not only physics theory and technology, but also clinical medical knowledge and technology. Medical physics is an applied physics, which is based on theoretical knowledge of physics. It is characterized by applying the theoretical knowledge, methods and techniques of physics to clinical medicine and medical research. It serves patients and, like doctors, has the responsibility to save lives. For example, after a cancer patient is diagnosed by a radiation oncologist, a prescription is made, and a radiation treatment plan is formulated together with a medical physicist, who executes the treatment plan and is responsible for the patient. Although medical physicists do not have the right to prescribe, they have different responsibilities from hospital engineers in implementing treatment plans and facing patients. It must be recognized that medical physics is physics and biomedical engineering is engineering. They are different in nature and function.
It is understood that most medical physicists in the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, and Japan have doctoral degrees (Ph.D), and a few are masters, and they have deep attainments in physical theory. They all work with doctors in the hospital and are familiar with relevant clinical medical technology. Their papers published in the Journal of Medical Physics are all high-level creations that pay equal attention to theory, technology and medicine, rather than ordinary technical articles. In the United States, medical physicists do not attend meetings of the Society of Biomedical Engineering, and biomedical engineers do not attend meetings of the Society of Medical Physics. Only the triennial World Congress of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering will attend, publish papers and exchange experiences, but there are two presidents, one representing IOMP and the other representing IFMBE. It can be seen that these are two independent disciplines and two independent societies.
Why do medical physicists in developed countries have doctorates? Because the doctors they cooperate with are also doctors of medicine, and the doctors of medicine in the United States all graduated from eight-year medical schools. In the first four years, they studied science and engineering courses in comprehensive universities, and they all had a good foundation in mathematics, physics, computers and electronics. They need to cooperate with high-level medical physicists for diagnosis and treatment. Doctors in China are all graduates of 5-6-year medical schools, and their knowledge of mathematics, physics, computers and electronics is poor. It is inevitable that they will have some difficulties in using high-tech medical equipment, and it is difficult to fully grasp the technical parameters and performance of high-end equipment after short-term training. It needs the cooperation of high-level medical physicists to master the technical performance of high-end diagnosis and treatment equipment. For example, ordinary CT has as many as 20 technical parameters, while high-grade CT is more complicated. Only when doctors cooperate with medical physicists can we truly master the technical performance of CT. Other more advanced and complicated modern medical instruments need the cooperation of clinicians and medical physicists in order to make full use of high-grade equipment to treat diseases and save lives. Otherwise, the imported expensive medical devices are not fully utilized, which is a great waste.
Why does the new generation of medical physicists in China need the cooperation between famous universities and famous hospitals? Because medical physics is a new frontier discipline, it is necessary for famous universities to offer medical physics majors and various courses. We also need famous doctors from well-known hospitals to teach clinical application courses and guide students to practice using high-end medical devices in hospitals. Bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctor's degree in medical physics trained by famous universities and famous hospitals are the talents who really meet the needs of modern hospitals. For example, the strong alliance between Tsinghua University and Union Medical College, including Union Hospital, Fuwai Hospital and Cancer Hospital, is fully qualified to train a new generation of medical physicists. Other big cities have similar conditions and can also train medical physicists.
To this end, we suggest that the Ministry of Education strongly support the cooperation between famous universities and famous hospitals and take effective measures to train a new generation of medical physicists (teachers), which is a major event in educational reform.
3. Scientific research is the driving force for the development of medical physics.
The development of any discipline is promoted by scientific research, and medical physics is no exception. Roentgen discovered X-rays in 1895 and immediately applied them to medicine. He is the greatest medical physicist and won the first Nobel Prize in physics. The application and research of X-ray in medical diagnosis and treatment has established radiology, which has developed to this day, blossoming and benefiting mankind. 1972, Allan M. Cormack, a medical physicist, founded the theory of CT reconstruction images, developed radiology, solved the insurmountable difficulties of X-ray imaging, and opened up a glorious road for the development of digital imaging, and won the Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology in 1979. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was first developed by John Malarde, a professor of medical physics at the University of Aberdeen in England, as a prototype of human imaging. Professor John R.Cameron, a famous American medical physicist, invented and developed thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD) and bone mineral density measuring instrument. There are modern medical instruments, such as IMRT, tomography, gamma knife, electron linear accelerator and so on. Developed by medical physicists and medical scientists. New scientific research results lead to new disciplines, such as CT physics, MR physics, radiotherapy physics, gamma knife physics and so on.
A new generation of China medical physicists should develop in teaching, scientific research and clinical practice. Physics professors, associate professors, lecturers and graduate students in medical colleges should work in the direction of combining teaching, scientific research and clinical practice. The Institute of High Energy Physics and the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences cooperate with medical colleges and hospitals to carry out high-tech medical research projects, such as the development of high-tech medical devices such as positron emission tomography scanners and medical linear accelerators. Full cooperation with universities, advanced research institutes, hospitals and manufacturers, and joint scientific research by scientists, engineers and doctors are the only way for the development of medical science and technology in China.
Therefore, we suggest that the Ministry of Science and Technology attach importance to the scientific research of medical physics and bring it into the national scientific research plan to promote the development of medical physics.