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MEDICAL PHYSICS INTERNATIONAL Journal, vol.1, No.1, 2013availability of a library with the necessary resources, eitherin print or online. To satisfy the simultaneous study of atleast half of the student group (at a time). This model alsorequires good student testing during the delivery ofeducation.At the other extreme (when minimal self-study isexpected) the overall contact hours could be of the order of800-900 hours. This model is useful for Regions orUniversities, where the libraries are not rich in resources,and most of the information is expected to be deliveredduring the lectures and labs. In this model the main resourcewhich students have for preparation for exams is theirlecture notes.When distributing the contact hours, one needs to build agood proportion for labs and other practical hours. Theirproportion could be estimated as ¼ of all contact hours.It should be emphasised, that contrary to some otherUniversity courses, attendance to Medical Physics lecturesshould be regarded as essential, and coursework delivery asobligatory. These requirements are very important for ourdynamic profession, where books and other sources becomeout of date quickly.As a rough estimate, the sum of class contact and selfreadinghours of an MSc programme in Medical Physicswould be around 1100-1300 (including time for theexamination and feedback tutorials).MSC PROJECT AND THESISThe MSc project (or Diploma work) and related thesis isof great importance for the assessment of students’ ability toapply the acquired knowledge into practice. This researchelement of the education element should follow the abovedescribedtaught element. The nature of Medical Physicseducation allows for minimal overlap between these twoelements and the MSc projects should follow after thecompletion of the educational modules. It would beadvisable the subject of the MSc project to be linked to areal practical problem.The volume of the MSc thesis is often given as around15000 words, but this should not be a strict requirement, asdifferent theses would produce results which would includeelements which can not be measured this way (for exampleprogramming, drawings, etc.). However the thesis isexpected to be “publication-like” – i.e. including all majorelements of a typical research paper: Introduction;Literature search; Materials and Methods; Results;Discussion; Conclusion; Reference list.The difficulty of the project should be related to theapproximate time, which the student is expected to devoteto it. In many Universities this time is around 500-700hours.This MSc project time, added to the time for contact andself-reading above, would give an indicative overall lengthof the postgraduate (MSc-level) education programme ofapproximately 1700-1900 hours. Again, variations related tolocal requirements could significantly change this figure.Normally this length would be delivered either within onetwoacademic year (full time studies) or in two-threeacademic years (part time studies). Some local regulationscould require longer study time - e.g. 2 years for full timeMSc programme. Similarly the taught element of the fulltimeprogramme could be extended over 1 whole year, andthe MSc project could be developed over the second year(during which the student can have also some exposure tothe real practice of the profession). Respectively suchdelivery of the programme could extend the Part-timedelivery and completion up to 4 years.STRUCTURE OF THE CURRICULUM AND MODELOF TEACHING DELIVERYThe MSc programme could be delivered either as acondensed full-time academic activity (most often over oneyear), or as a distributed part-time academic activity (mostoften over two years). Its organisation should be based on aprogressive structure, as many of the topics requirebackground from other previous topics. From this point ofview a very suitable model for Medical Physics Educationis the modular model. One module is a finite element of thestudies, with separate assessment (for example RadiationProtection Module). Its length varies, but is often 30-40contact hours.In this model each subject from the educational structureis delivered in a condensed period of time (over 1-2 weeks).The model is very effective in regions, where theconcentration of lecturers is not sufficient. The modelallows for various lecturers to be called from otherUniversities (or cities and countries). The disadvantage ofthis model is related to the fact that when students misscertain element (due to illness, or other reason) they wouldhave great difficulty to be in pace with the group.A variation of the modular model is distributed deliveryof lectures on different subjects, while keeping the logicallink between them. This model is more convenient for thestudents, but puts great pressure on the organisation, as amissing lecture (due to lecturer’s illness or other reason)could disrupt the logical line of knowledge delivery.Perhaps a suitable balance between these twopossibilities provides a good solution, which is used in anumber of Universities. This balance could be based onmainly distributed delivery of the basic topics (for whichone University could find local lecturers) and fully modular16
MEDICAL PHYSICS INTERNATIONAL Journal, vol.1, No.1, 2013delivery of the special topics (what would require invitedexternal faculty of lecturers).Obviously this method of delivery must be based ongrouping the subjects (modules) in two main categories –general topics (which all students will study) and topicalmodules (from which the student will select a limitednumber, depending on their interest). Later an examplemodel for a curriculum with its modules is described.Other organizations of the delivery (by subject) are alsopossible - for example – Imaging group of modules, whichwould form a package including the physics principles, themedical application, the relevant equipment and its methodof operations, various measurements and safety issues, etc.This however is very difficult to be applied in a smallcountry, where the lecturers are often scattered in variouscities and institutions. The advantage of this organisation isrelated to the better learning and examination of students.This method of delivery is suitable for a large (and rich)University, which can afford to organise solely an MScprogramme in Medical Physics (and even such Universitywould need a number of honorary lecturers).In most other cases the University issuing the degreemust have agreements with other Universities (where somelecturers work and/or suitable laboratories exist). Theseinter-university agreements are vital for the organisation ofMSc courses in small countries. A model suitable forsmaller countries (and Universities) is collecting a faculty oflecturers (from other cities or countries) and maintaining alocal Education Centre (which in principle could be not justfor one country, but for a whole region). This model canhave variations.One variation could be all students to be registered attheir own University (which can be different from theUniversity hosting the Education Centre) and attend alloptional lectures at this Centre (which in this case is themeeting point of students and lecturers). In this case theCentre should have honorary contracts with the hostUniversity. It is assumed that the students could attend thebasic lectures at their own University. When the studentscomplete the taught element of the programme they coulddevelop their MSc project in their own University, andgraduate from it. This model is cost-effective, but willdepend heavily on the inter-university agreements (betweenthe hosting University and the other Universities sendingstudents to it).Alternatively, the students can register with theUniversity, where the Centre is established, complete alltaught element there (basic and optional modules), thendevelop their MSc project in the Education Centre andgraduate from the host University. This education deliveryrequires good investment in the foundation of the Centre(for equipment, laboratories, teaching room, etc). Itsadvantage is that in this case all teaching and research are inthe host University (assuming the countries sendingstudents have educational agreement with the host country).A plus of this mod-el is that with time the host Universitywill have a number of its own graduates to take part in theeducation process, what in future would decrease the costfor invited faculty.ON-LINE STUDIESThe number of students following on-line courses andother e-Learning initiatives increased over the past 10 years.Most authors support blended delivery of e-Learning andclassical learning [7, 8]. Contemporary web technology(e.g. Skype) allows for direct lecturing from distance,supported with specific on-line materials. Own developmentof bespoke e-Learning materials is very expensive, howevera number of suitable and well used such materials exists onInternet [e.g. 9, 10, 11]. Their use however has to bespecified in the Programme description/handbook. In suchcase the home University (offering e-Learning degree) hasto agree on the use of these materials (blended with theirown education) and has to consider inclusion of on-lineteachers in the Programme Faculty of the MSc course (ifappropriate). e-Learning is most suitable for remote areas,but its delivery without contact with real practising lecturersis not recommended. The best results of e-Learning areusually for further education of junior specialists, whoalready work in Medical Physics Departments astechnicians, or similar. This way they have the necessarycontact with the profession, as well as supervisors for theirMSc projects.ENTRY REQUIREMENTSA normal entry requirement would be undergraduatedegree (BSc-level) in Physics, Engineering or other relevantsubject (based on minimum 3 years University education).The variation of undergraduate programmes and courses isenormous and the entry level should be decided for everysingle case. When this level is doubtful, an extrapreparatory period (approximately one term) could beadded. During this period the student will have to passadditional elements on Physics, Research methods andHuman Physiology&Anatomy. If such model is used, wecould expect that the Full Time delivery would extend overminimum of 2 years (e.g. 1/2 year preparatory + one yeartaught element + ½ year research project). Such educationcourse could build very sound educational base and couldinclude elements of further practical training (what17
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