Remote Real-time Education in Medical Physics (RREMP)

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Background

Medical Physics is a relatively small community but it spans great geological distances,  usually with a scarcity of experts whose expertise could greatly benefit students entering into the field.  In addition there are many aspects in Medical Physics for which an interactive education method would be most advantageous,  such as explanation of basic physics concepts,  training in using the many software packages common in the field of Medical Physics,  interactive discussion of many treatment techniques,  different options for addressing planning scenarios,  etc.

In addition to training,  the constantly evolving field of Medical Physics with its many emerging advanced techniques and technologies require constant continuing education as well as consultation with experts

Many continuing education courses and workshops in Medical Physics already exist,  including many web-based study courses and virtual libraries.  However,  one mode of education and communication that has not been widely used is the real-time interactive process.  Web-based conferencing systems do exist,  but these usually require a substantial amount of effort and cost to set up.  In contrast,  videoconferencing options using the Internet are becoming more and more prevalent in general,  and could potentially benefit the needs requirement in Medical Physics.

It is then the objective of this RREMP website to promote the concept real-time interactive education and consultation in the field of Medical Physics, and to develop the process into a simple-to-use, widely-accessible, and cost-effective method to benefit our profession.

Pilot Project

The RREMP project started many years ago (2002) as a collaboration of the Department of Medical Physics at the (then) Toronto-Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre in Canada and the Department of Radiology at the University of Malaya in Malaysia. A class of Medical Physics graduate students at the University of Malaya attended lectures provided by lecturers in Toronto, using the Internet as the main tool of communication.
As part of that pilot study, the different methods that can be used to provide the real-time interactive remote education were explored, and various topics including traditional classroom lectures as well as hands-on workshops were also delivered.

A project overview from the earlier pilot project :

Sample screenshot of the online sessions: