Academic training alone does not make a medical physicist-Prof Amuasi

Kumasi, Oct. 21, GNA - Professor John Humphrey Amuasi, former Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, has said that academic training alone does not make a medical physicist. He said practical experience with medical problems was very essential, stressing that; this experience may be acquired through a traineeship or post-doctoral programmes of one or two years in a hospital.

Prof Amuasi was delivering a lecture on the topic, "Physics in Health Care and Related Research," as part of the activities to mark the celebration of the Role of Physics in our Global Society - The World Year of Physics 2005, at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi on Wednesday.

The celebration, which is on the theme, "Physics for Wealth Creation", was organized jointly by the Institute of Science and Technology for Africa (ISTA) and the Department of Physics of the KNUST and it was attended by graduates and post-graduate students of the university, senior members, technicians, supporting staff of the university and students of basic and secondary schools in the university community.

Prof Amuasi pointed out that the events surrounding this yearlong celebration of the role of physics in our global society would draw the attention of students, helping to spark broader interest in physics. He said many forces were working to make medical physics a creative, expanding and rewarding profession for the young scientist about to choose a career, adding that, new methods of diagnosis and therapy, many of them physical in nature were being developed and applied.

Prof Amuasi said these methods increasingly demand the skill of medical physicists not only in research but also in their employment for patient care.

"While radiation therapy continues to be the major field of employment for medical physicists, new development and greater sophistication in equipment and procedures for diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine have brought about a substantial increase in position available in these two fields", he said.

Prof Francis K. A. Allotey, a retired professor, said there was the need to congratulate all those, who have contributed to the development of the country and the world in general for bringing accelerated development in science and technology. Prof Aba Bentil Andam, Dean of Science and Technology for Africa (ISTA), said physics has provided a better understanding of the vast number of facts and observations, which have led to the technological development of mankind.