The Role of Medical Physicists in Radiotherapy
Bandung – The Internal Physics Seminar is back to address the need for information from practical experience in the field of Medical Physics. This time, the speaker is an experienced medical physicist who works at Hasan Sadikin Hospital (RSHS) in Bandung, Mrs Anisza Okselia. Ms Anisza Okselia, usually called as Ms Oksel, is currently a medical physicist in the radiotherapy department at RSHS and serves as the chairperson of the Regional Representative Council (DPW) of the Indonesian Association of Medical Physicists (AFISMI) for the West Java region. During this event, Ms Oksel shared the knowledge and experience she has gained throughout her academic studies and professional career as a medical physicist.
This seminar began with a simple explanation of radiotherapy, starting with an explanation of the benefits and uses of radiation in the field of health, followed by an explanation of radiotherapy as one of the fields that utilises radiation. On this occasion, it was revealed that there are two types of radiation used in radiotherapy, namely external radiotherapy and internal radiotherapy, based on how radiation is administered to patients. The development of radiotherapy from its inception to the present day was explained, accompanied by brief explanations and photos of the radiotherapy equipment used, as well as explanations of planning techniques for treating cancer, such as IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy), VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Radiotherapy), and SBRT (Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy). The seminar also shared that as medical physicists in radiotherapy facilities, their job descriptions include quality assurance (QA), radiation protection, and treatment planning. Ms Oksel also explained how physics graduates can play a role in radiotherapy as medical physicists, one of which is by carrying out treatment planning for patients. The seminar continued with an explanation from Ms Oksel about what a medical physicist does, the study paths that can be taken to become a medical physicist, and career opportunities as a medical physicist.
The seminar session continued with a question and answer session from students, which turned into a sharing session with Mrs Oksel. The simple explanations and real-life examples that were easy to understand made this seminar even more interesting. From this seminar, students and lecturers from the Physics Study Programme gained a lot of new knowledge about working as a medical physicist in Indonesia.
The Physics Study Programme would like to thank Mrs Oksel for her willingness to share her knowledge. We hope that this seminar will motivate students who are interested in Medical Physics to study this field further. See you at the next Physics Seminar!