DOHA: The Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has tied up with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to upgrade the skills of radio physicists in the region to reduce medical mistakes in treatment of cancer.
About twenty medical professionals in radio therapy from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Oman and the UAE attended a four-day training course which concluded at the Wyndham Regency hotel yesterday. The course was conducted by the National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR) at HMC in collaboration with IAEA.
“The main task of the workshop was to educate the participants on how to accurately calibrate the machine. The physicist could make mistakes if they are not adequately trained in the use of the equipment and delivering a wrong dose could be dangerous to the patient, and even cause death. Such incidents are frequently reported in the Western countries, but they mostly go unreported in the Middle East,” Rabih Hammoud, chief of Medical Physics at NCCCR and course director told the media, on the sidelines of the workshop.
He said there are international guidelines and protocols to be followed in radio therapy. However, application of such guidelines depends a lot on the competency of the physicist. That is why education and training is extremely important in this field.
He said HMC was selected by the IAEA to conduct the regional workshop as a recognition of the state-of-the-art radio therapy department at NCCCR.
“This is the first course of its kind in the region and we are planning to conduct more training sessions in the coming years. The participants underwent both practical and theoretical training. The practical training included a visit to the radio therapy unit at NCCCR where they had hands-on experience on using the most advanced equipment,” said Hammoud.
He said the unit at NCCCR treats 50 to 60 cases daily, with about 50 per cent of them breast cancer. The remaining include head and neck, pelvic and cervical cancers, among others.
The Peninsula
