"Review of Medical Physics in Africa" by Prof. Stephen Inkoom
When: Thursday March 26, 2026
At 16:00 CET (10:00 EST)
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Stephen Inkoom – Deputy Director and Chief Research Scientist at the Radiation Protection Institute under Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GHANA).
Biography: Dr. Stephen Inkoom is Deputy Director and Chief Research Scientist at the Radiation Protection Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission. His work focuses on radiation protection, medical physics, and the safe application of nuclear and accelerator-based technologies in healthcare and industry. He is actively involved in national and international initiatives supporting capacity building, regulation, and the development of medical physics in Africa, working closely with organizations such as the IAEA to strengthen education, research, and clinical practice across the region.
Abstract:
Medical physics (MP) has been an indispensable and strategic stakeholder in the delivery of healthcare in Africa, with immense support to diagnostic radiology (DR), nuclear medicine (NM) and radiotherapy (RT).
There are eleven (11) countries that have MP academic programmes and seven (7) that have clinical training programmes in Africa, by the use of a harmonized curriculum developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with additional support from the training of medical physicists through the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, where one hundred and twenty-four (124) ICTP medical physics graduates have been trained since 2014/15 to 2023/24 for ten (10) cycles.
The Federation of African Medical Physicist Organisations (FAMPO) was established in 2009, and the Federation’s activities are extended throughout Africa and the local Islands in the Region. FAMPO promotes MP Professional Practice, Education and Training, Research and Development within Africa. FAMPO region has more than 1,200 Medical Physicists for a population of about 1.3 billion. About sixty percent (60%) of MPs are in radiotherapy (RT); 30% in Medical Imaging; 10% in Research & Industry. With respect to Medical Physicist recognition in Africa, only six (6) of the fifty-four (54) African countries have legislative recognition for MPs.
For the future, FAMPO would continue to strengthen collaboration with National Member Organizations and members, advocate for legislative recognition of medical physicists, enhance education and training opportunities for medical physicists, collaborate with key bodies and institutions such as the International Organisation for Medical Physics (IOMP), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), etc. to bridge the knowledge gap and equip medical physicists with the skills necessary to meet the growing demands of the field.
It is expected that these initiatives and partnerships would promote medical physics profession within the region, strengthen research and innovation within the medical physics community in Africa, enhance legislative recognition, and expand and enhance FAMPO’s network and member engagement.
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