WCM-Q pre-med students explore application of physics in medicine

Pre-medical students at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) had the chance to learn about the role of physics in medicine during a two-day training session in collaboration with the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).Medical physics plays a vital role in hospitals, spanning a wide variety of diagnostic and therapeutic tools.Medical physicists – who are usually behind the scenes and are therefore not well known – work alongside doctors and other healthcare professionals to ensure these tools operate safely and effectively, particularly in radiological procedures.Medical physicists also help develop new medical technologies, driving innovation in the healthcare sector.To raise awareness of their crucial work, the joint WCM-Q/HMC training session introduced the WCM-Q students to the role of medical physicists, explaining how they work closely with doctors on the diagnosis and treatment of patients, maintain and operate vital medical equipment, help devise treatment plans, and take part in research and development of novel therapies and diagnostic techniques.In total, 45 WCM-Q first-year pre-medical students completed the training session, organised in co-operation with the HMC’s Radiation Oncology Department and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Department.The first day was held at the WCM-Q and featured lectures by HMC medical doctors and research scientists to introduce students to the applications of medical physics in modern medicine.The second day was held at the National Centre for Cancer Care & Research.Students toured the radiation oncology and nuclear medicine departments and got acquainted with the state-of-the-art radiological technologies used to diagnose and treat patients.WCM-Q professor of physics Dr Mohamed Yousef said: “Medical physicists play vital roles in the diagnosis and treatment of vast numbers of patients, but because a lot of their work happens away from the clinic, it is difficult for students to appreciate just how important they are.”“This excellent training session helped our pre-medical students gain a very good understanding of the work that medical physicists do, both in terms of treatment and in research and development of new ways to deploy technology to provide better healthcare outcomes for patients,” he added.The WCM-Q thanked the HMC’s Dr Noora Alhammadi, chair of the Radiation Oncology Department, and Dr Huda al-Naemi, executive director of the OHS department, and their teams for their continued support.