Survey on education and training of medical physicists in the member states of the European Community with reference to the patient directive (84/466/Euratom)

Article 5 of Directive 84/466/Euratom mentions the availability of a qualified expert in radiophysics to sophisticated departments of radiotherapy and nuclear medicine. Since the qualified expert has a major and direct role to play in the protection of the patient undergoing medical examination or treatment involving ionizing radiation, his presence in the hospital and the training he has received are considerable aspects of radiation protection in the medical domain. The application of Article 5 of Directive 84/466/Euratom is of great importance for the protection of the patient undergoing medical examination or treatment involving ionizing radiation. This report, developed to evaluate the actual application of this article, reveals that although in several Member States the concept of the qualified expert in radiophysics has already been introduced into national law, in practice a need for further harmonization clearly emerges. On the availability of training facilities, the situation in the Community is rather positive, but the formal recognition of training and education of medical physicists by government bodies is still in a developing stage