International conference leads to opportunities for IPEM

13/12/2023

THE International Conference on Medical Physics should lead to opportunities for IPEM in the future.

A team from IPEM attended the ICMP in Mumbai, India, which had the theme of ‘Innovations in Radiation Technology & Medical Physics for Better Healthcare’.

IPEM had a stand at the conference, which drew many delegates to visit it to chat to staff about membership, training, publishing opportunities and accreditation. The team also hosted a gathering for IPEM members attending the conference, which Dr Anna Barnes, IPEM’s President, sent a special video message for members.

Members and National Office staff also led a number of symposium sessions during the conference, including:

• Professor Indra Das, an IPEM Fellow, who is Director of Medical Physics at Northwestern University in Chicago and Chair of IPEM’s ebooks advisory board, led two sessions on ‘Applications of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Cancer Radiation Treatment’ and on the ‘Emergence of MR-Linac for Adaptive Radiation Therapy’
• Dr Claire-Louise Chapple, IPEM's Vice President International, jointly hosted a session with Dr John Damilakis, President of the International Organization for Medical Physics, on ‘Radiation Safety Culture in Healthcare’
• Dr Jemimah Eve, IPEM’s Director of Policy and Impact, and Dr Chapple led an IPEM symposium on ‘Growing Careers in Medical Physics’, specifically about training, development and professionalism.

The conference proved an ideal opportunity to showcase IPEM’s international, peer-reviewed publications. Many delegates were aware of them, especially Physics in Medicine and Biology, with the top author in India visiting the team at the stand.

Support to members

It was an excellent chance to highlight IPEM’s accreditation credentials in the Higher Education sector, to support IPEM members, both locally in India and those from further afield, including the UK, and with offered plenty of networking opportunities with delegates, other institutions and the Asian arm of many UK industry contacts.

Jen Cannon, IPEM’s Professional Knowledge and Innovation Manager, who was part of the IPEM team at the conference, said it was extremely useful to hear about experiences in implementing advanced technologies from an international perspective, such as artificial intelligence (AI), as the struggles faced in low- and middle-income countries differ to that in the UK, in particular around storage solutions for AI platforms.

She added it was useful to see how IPEM compared to other international professional bodies and there were lessons to take back to help our current members, in addition to other aspects which can be implemented for the benefit of international members.

Dr Chapple said: ‘It was a real privilege to attend ICMP and I particularly enjoyed meeting several old friends and making many new ones. I look forward to continuing to engage with our current and prospective international members through the IPEM International Community of Interest.’

Dr Eve added: ‘Attending the ICMP was a fantastic opportunity for IPEM. Whilst we have been to the ICMP regularly for many years, this time it really felt like we had lots to showcase about what we are currently doing and what we plan to do in the future.

‘The opportunity to talk to our local members in India was fantastic and a real chance for us to think about how we can support our international members better.

‘It was very worthwhile and valuable for us to be there, to talk to and support our members who were attending the conference and also for the networking opportunities it afforded us, including bodies such as the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, Cornell University and the International Atomic Energy Agency.’