E-learning for CPD for medical physicists

Abstract

The internet is increasingly being used for as a platform for providing learning opportunities to meet medical physicists’ continuing professional development (CPD) needs. But as a profession we do not take full advantage of its capabilities with only a few medical physicists’ professional organisations (MPPOs) providing educational on-line material suitable for CPD. METHODS: An on-line search was carried out of all the web site of MPPOs in the International Organization of Medical Physics. Those sites that were not in English were translated with Google Translator. Those MPPOs that had educational material that was made available only to its members, or who made it generally available for payment of a fee were approached for permission to access the material. The surveyed material was collated and reviewed. Also all open-access medical physics journals were surveyed. RESULTS: Apart from the well-known Emerald and EMIT sites, there was surprisingly little e-learning material to be found. The AAPM provides excellent resources to its members and to non-members who wish to pay for access. The ACPSEM contribution to e-learning is also notable and is developing strongly. The Biomedical Imaging and Interventional Journal site also contains a lot of materials. But the lack of material to be found elsewhere was quite disappointing and that which is available is quite hard to find. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS: As a profession we have not taken full advantage of the possibilities that it provides for giving access to our members for CPD. The material can be hard to find or has restricted access. There is no one central site where the material can be found and accessed easily and without cost. The establishment of such a site would require significant sponsorship for its establishment and maintenance. However, such a site would be a global asset and could coordinate the production of medical physics e-learning materials for CPD.