“Promotion and Co-Operation among Asia-Oceania Organizations for Medical Physics”
The Asia-Oceania Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (AFOMP) was founded on May 28, 2000. The formation of AFOMP is only possible with the aspiration of and enthusiastic and cohesive efforts made by many medical physicists, especially during its embryonic stage. IOMP, particularly with the initiatives of Professors Colin Orton and Gary Fullerton and members of its Science Committee played an important role in promoting the formation of its Asian regional chapter. Dr Akira Ito (Japan), Professors Raymond Wu (USA) and Professor Barry Allen (Australia) were amongst the firsts to explore such possibility with the leaders of the medical physics communities in the region.
On October 5, 1999 during the International Conference on Medical imaging, Medical Physics and Precision Radiation Therapy in Guangzhou, China, Dr. Ito together with Dr. Kwan Hoong Ng (Malaysia) was able to organize a meeting for a group of Asian physicists to discuss the subject. Representatives from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand were present at the meeting to exchange ideas on scientific collaboration and on the possibility of formation of a regional medical physics organization. Advice and encouragement were given by Dr. Geoffrey Ibbott, then the President of AAPM, Dr. Carridad Borras, Chairperson of the IOMP Science Committee, Professors William Hendee and Nan-zhu Xie, Co-Presidents of the Guangzhou International Conference, who attended the meeting as observers.
The second meeting of the physicist representatives in the Asia and Oceania regions was organized by Professors Raymond Wu (USA) and Yimin Hu (China) and was held on May 28, 2000 during the 2nd Beijing International Congress on Medical Radiation Physics, Beijing, China. The meeting was attended by representatives from eight medical physics organizations in Australia & New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan and was chaired by Dr. Kin Yin Cheung (Hong Kong). The meeting voted unanimously in favor of forming a regional medical physics federation and the name chosen was Asia-Oceanic Federation of Medical Physics Organizations (AFMPO). The meeting also endorsed the affiliation of the Federation to IOMP as one of its regional chapters. A Protem Committee was established at the meeting with Kin Yin Cheung and Toh Jui Wong (Singapore) elected as the Chairman and Secretary, respectively and Professor Raymond Wu was appointed as an Advisor to AFMPO. The Protem Committee was charged with the responsibility to draft the constitution, to prepare for the first general meeting to be held in Chicago during the 2000 World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering and to invite other medical physics organizations in the region to join the Federation. Shortly after the Beijing meeting the medical physics organizations in Bangladesh, Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand also became members of the Federation.
The Medical Physics Association of India also became a member during the Chicago meeting.
The Federation held its first Council Meeting during the World Congress in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering in Chicago on 24 and 25 July 2000 with the participation of the representatives from 12 member organizations.
Drs. Colin Orton and Geoffrey Ibbott and Professor Raymond Wu also attended the meeting as observers and gave their supports and encouragement. Many issues of common interest had been discussed at the meeting and it turned out that the two-session meeting was too short to cover all the agenda items. The meeting elected Dr. Kin Yin Cheung as President of the Federation, Barry Allen the Vice-President, Akira Ito the Secretary General, and Anchali Krisanachinda (Thailand) the Treasurer.
The meeting also adopted a new name for the Federation, namely Asia-Oceania Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (AFOMP).
On July 26, 2000 at its Council Meeting in Chicago IOMP officially admitted AFOMP to be one of its Regional Chapters.
AFOMP is charged with the important task of promoting medical physics in the Asia and Oceania regions.
The Federation has been and will continue to working closely with its member organizations, IOMP and other national and international organizations on matters such as development of professional status and standard, medical physics service and service standard, education and training of physicists, and scientific meetings and exchanges.
AFOMP has, at its second AFOMP Annual Council Meeting held in November 2001 in Bangkok during the 1st Asia-Oceania Congress of Medical Physics, established three committees namely Professional Development Committee, Education & Training Committee and Scientific Committee to work on these important tasks. Among their first tasks are drafting of a set of common regional definitions and standards on the roles and responsibility of a medical physicist, professional and quality standards, manning scale and manpower requirements, and the organization and support of training events and training development.