On the correction factors for small field dosimetry in 1.5T MR-linacs.

Clinical dosimetry in the presence of a 1.5T magnetic field is challenging, let alone in case small fields are involved. The scope of this study is to determine a set of relevant correction factors for a variety of MR-compatible detectors with emphasis on small fields.

The role of medical physics experts in clinical trials: A guideline from the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics.

The EFOMP working group on the Role of Medical Physics Experts (MPEs) in Clinical Trials was established in 2010, with experts from across Europe and different areas of medical physics. Their main aims were: (1) To develop a consensus guidance document for the work MPEs do in clinical trials across Europe. (2) Complement the work by American colleagues in AAPM TG 113 and guidance from National Member Organisations.

Relative profile measurements in 1.5T MR-linacs: investigation of central axis deviations.

. In 1.5 T MR-linacs, the absorbed dose central axis (CAX) deviates from the beam's CAX due to inherent profile asymmetry.

Developing and implementing a mentoring and enabling programme within EFOMP.

To ensure the continued advancement of the medical physics profession, the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP) has designed a mentorship programme. This programme aims to support Early Career Medical Physicists by providing them with the guidance needed for both professional and personal development to meet the continually evolving demands of the medical physics field within their working environments. The EFOMP mentorship programme is an important step forward in supporting the next generation of medical physicists.

Support for the "Vancouver call for action to strengthen expertise in radiological protection worldwide": the position of organisations in formal relations with the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).

The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), recently expressed concern that "a shortage of investment in training, education, research, and infrastructure seen in many sectors and countries may compromise society's ability to properly manage radiation risks" and in 2022 announced the "Vancouver call for action to strengthen expertise in radiological protection worldwide". As representatives of organisations in formal relations with ICRP, we decided to promote this position paper to declare and emphasise that strengthening the expertise in radiological protection is a collective priority for all of us.

Symposium on molecular radiotherapy dosimetry: The first of a series?

The EFOMP Special Interest Group for Radionuclide Internal Dosimetry (SIG_FRID) organised its first scientific meeting, the Symposium on Molecular Radiotherapy Dosimetry, in Athens on November 9th-11th 2023. The Symposium was hosted by the Hellenic Association of Medical Physicists and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. This meeting gathered more than 180 scientists from 28 countries.

Dose-response dependencies of OSL dosimeters in conventional linacs and 1.5T MR-linacs: an experimental and Monte Carlo study.

. This work focuses on the optically stimulated luminescence dosimetry (OSLD) dose-response characterization, with emphasis on 1.5T MR-Linacs.

EFOMP Malaga Declaration 2023: An updated vision on Medical Physics in Europe.

In 2006, the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP) adopted the "Malaga Declaration". The declaration asserted the fundamental role of Medical Physics professionals in the radiation protection of patients, workers, general public, carers and comforters and research participants in hospitals. However, since that time the Medical Physics profession has evolved in Europe and new regulations and documentation have been issued, such as directive 2013/59/Euratom and the "European Guidelines on Medical Physics Expert" (RP174).

Statistics in Medical Physics. The 28th European School of Medical Physics Experts.

One of the aims of EFOMP is to organise events for education, training and continuous professional development. For this reason, the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics has developed a series of schools, called the European School for Medical Physics Experts (ESMPE). These are designed for medical physicists working as Medical Physics Experts (MPE) or in training to become an MPE and the level of training is at EQF level 8.

Impact of systematic MLC positional uncertainties on the quality of single-isocenter multi-target VMAT-SRS treatment plans.

Purpose: To study the impact of systematic MLC leaf positional uncertainties (stemming from mechanical inaccuracies or sub-optimal MLC modeling) on the quality of intracranial single-isocenter multi-target VMAT-SRS treatment plans. An estimation of appropriate tolerance levels is attempted.

Methods: Five patients, with three to four metastases and at least one target lying in close proximity to organs-at-risk (OARs) were included in this study.

The role of medical physicists in clinical trials across Europe.

Introduction: The roles and responsibilities of medical physicists (MPs) are growing together with the evolving science and technology. The complexity of today's clinical trials requires the skills and knowledge of MPs for their safe and efficient implementation. However, it is unclear to what extent the skillsets offered by MPs are being exploited in clinical trials across Europe.

The 3 ESTRO-EFOMP core curriculum for medical physics experts in radiotherapy.

Purpose: To update the 2011 ESTRO-EFOMP core curriculum (CC) for education and training of medical physics experts (MPE)s working in radiotherapy (RT), in line with recent EU guidelines, and to provide a framework for European countries to develop their own curriculum.

Material And Methods: Since September 2019, 27 European MPEs representing ESTRO, EFOMP and National Societies, with expertise covering all subfields of RT physics, have revised the CC for recent advances in RT. The ESTRO and EFOMP Education Councils, all European National Societies and international stakeholders have been involved in the revision process.

Early career medical physicist groups in Europe: An EFOMP survey.

Introduction: Training, educating, and fostering of young professionals are key requisites for the progress of any profession. The young medical physicists (MPs) of today are the medical physics professionals and leaders of tomorrow. It is, therefore, essential that they learn to work collectively and in a coordinated manner at both national and European levels at an early stage in their career.

Education, training and registration of Medical Physics Experts across Europe.

From its inception, EFOMP has pursued a policy to improve and coordinate education and training of medical physicists across all its participating European countries. Several EFOMP policy statements on education and training have been published and surveys have been held to get an overview of the actual situation. At the beginning of 2020 a new survey was distributed amongst the 36 National Member Organizations (NMOs), in which questions were based on recommendations published in the most recent policy statements.

Towards an updated ESTRO-EFOMP core curriculum for education and training of medical physics experts in radiotherapy - A survey of current education and training practice in Europe.

Purpose: ESTRO-EFOMP intend to update the core curriculum (CC) for education and training of medical physicists in radiotherapy in line with the European Commission (EC) guidelines on Medical Physics Experts (MPE), the CanMEDS methodology and recent developments in radiotherapy. As input, a survey of the current structure of radiotherapy MPE national training schemes (NTS) in Europe was carried out.

Methods: A 35-question survey was sent to all European medical physics national societies (NS) with a focus on existence of an NTS, its format and duration, required entry-level education, and financial support for trainees.

EFOMP survey results on national radiotherapy dosimetry audits.

Purpose: The Council Directive 2013/58/EURATOM entered into force in 2014, and its transposition into national legislations became applicable in 2018. The Council Directive 2013/58/EURATOM strengthened the importance of clinical audits, and stated that Member States should ensure dosimetry audit compliance in accordance with national procedures. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to picture the status of the implementation of dosimetry audits in European countries.

Dosimetric impact of rotational errors on the quality of VMAT-SRS for multiple brain metastases: Comparison between single- and two-isocenter treatment planning techniques.

Purpose: In the absence of a 6D couch and/or assuming considerable intrafractional patient motion, rotational errors could affect target coverage and OAR-sparing especially in multiple metastases VMAT-SRS cranial cases, which often involve the concurrent irradiation of off-axis targets. This work aims to study the dosimetric impact of rotational errors in such applications, under a comparative perspective between the single- and two-isocenter treatment techniques.

Methods: Ten patients (36 metastases) were included in this study.

Dosimetric comparison of five different techniques for craniospinal irradiation across 15 European centers: analysis on behalf of the SIOP-E-BTG (radiotherapy working group).

Purpose: Conventional techniques (3D-CRT) for craniospinal irradiation (CSI) are still widely used. Modern techniques (IMRT, VMAT, TomoTherapy, proton pencil beam scanning [PBS]) are applied in a limited number of centers. For a 14-year-old patient, we aimed to compare dose distributions of five CSI techniques applied across Europe and generated according to the participating institute protocols, therefore representing daily practice.

Participation of women medical Physicists in European scientific events: The European experience.

Purpose: Though the number of women scientists is increasing over the years, studies show that they are still under-represented in leadership roles. The purpose of this work is to establish the percentage of women Medical Physicists (wMPs) that have participated in European scientific events and evaluate it as an indication of the current position of women in the field of Medical Physics in Europe and to propose possible ways to encourage their participation.

Materials And Methods: Data regarding the participants in European scientific events of Medical Physics were collected.

Anatomy- vs. fluence-based planning for prostate cancer treatments using VMAT.

The purpose of this study was to compare the planning approaches used in two treatment planning systems (TPS) provided by Elekta for VMAT treatments. Ten prostate patients were studied retrospectively. Plan comparison was performed in terms of delivery efficiency and accuracy, as well as in terms of target coverage and critical organ protection by utilizing physical and radiobiological indices.