CRITERIA FOR THE NUMBER OF PHYSICIST IN MEDICAL RADIOPHYSICS UNITS

Medical Physics can be described as the scientific disiplin which concerned with the application of concepts and methods of physics in medicine. The application of physics to medicine must be done by trained and educated physicists in the their studying fields. There are distinct professionel areas for medical Physicist. The studying areas of medical physiciss can be divited two groups. Most of them are working with ionizing radiations (For example: Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine and Diagnostic Radiology). Generally, the number of medical radiation physicist required in a "Medical radiophysics Department "depends upon several factors. They will be discussed in this paper: 1 - The range of application areas and their dimensions of radiophysics in medicine, 2- The number of patients will be examinated and treated in the department, manufacturing technology and the complexity of examinations and treatments,3-The formal teaching and training load, 4- The level of participation in research, development and clinical trials, 5- The number of supporting staff for Medical radiophysics unit (e.g. Medical Technician, engineering, trained physicists and training physicts). The determination of minimum number medical radiation physicists WTE (Whole Time Equivalent) factor is used as a general guidelines.