
In India, medical physics activities
started in the mid 40s with the appointment of Dr. Ramaiah Naidu as
the first medical physicist at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Bombay
with a responsibility to set up and operate a radon plant for cancer
treatment. Today there are about 600 medical physicists in the
country. Even though the annual growth rate in the number of medical
physicists is reported to be the highest in India, the total number
is inadequate for the size of population. While India has less than
one medical physicist per millions population, it ranges between 5
to 20 in developed countries. This also reflects upon the meager
facilities for X-ray diagnosis and radiation therapy of cancer in
India.
The Association of Medical Physicists
of India was founded in 1976 with objective of encouraging the
application of physics in medicine. It provides a forum for medical
physicists in the form of annual conferences (at national and
international levels) and publication of a quarterly Journal of
Medical Physics for the exchange of ideas and dissemination of new
knowledge. The Association collaborates with similar organizations
in the world to arise the quality of medical physics in India.
Currently it has an active membership of about 800, comprising of
physicists, radiation oncologists, radiologists and engineers. The
wide spectrum of membership reflects the multi disciplinary nature
of medical physics.
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