Cover Image

Medical physicists in Malaysia: A national workforce survey 2019

Objective: Medical physics in Malaysia is still considered a young profession. This workforce survey aims to understand the status, aspirations, motivation and experiences of medical physicists (MPs) in the country. A subsection of this survey also aims to understand the role of women. Method: A sur...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wong, Jeannie Hsiu Ding, Zin, Hafiz M., Pawanchek, Mahzom, Ng, Kwan Hoong
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2019
Subjects:
R Medicine
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/23166/
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2019.10.019
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my.um.eprints.23166
record_format eprints
spelling my.um.eprints.231662019-12-02T01:36:36Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/23166/ Medical physicists in Malaysia: A national workforce survey 2019 Wong, Jeannie Hsiu Ding Zin, Hafiz M. Pawanchek, Mahzom Ng, Kwan Hoong R Medicine Objective: Medical physics in Malaysia is still considered a young profession. This workforce survey aims to understand the status, aspirations, motivation and experiences of medical physicists (MPs) in the country. A subsection of this survey also aims to understand the role of women. Method: A survey was carried out between April 20 and May 30, 2018 by a working group under the Medical Physics Division of the Malaysian Institute of Physics (IFM). The survey form was designed using Google Form and sent to various public and private institutions nationwide that employed MPs registered with IFM. Results: A total of 106 responses (28% men and 72% women) were analysed. This represented 30% of the medical physics workforce. Majority of them had postgraduate degrees, but their clinical training is mostly obtained on the job with no certification. The number of low-ranking female MPs was disproportionately high. MPs worked long hours and achieving work-life balance (WLB) was a challenge. Factors that improved their WLB included working close to home, having a supportive manager and flexible working hours. Most MPs aspired to become professional and mentor younger compatriots, besides contributing to patient care and research. Gender discrimination was reportedly low. Conclusion: Medical physics in Malaysia is growing and has a strong representation of women. In future, they would probably take over the top management from their male counterparts, whose number had stagnated. A united effort was essential to set up a proper clinical training system to train clinically qualified MPs. © 2019 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica Elsevier 2019 Article PeerReviewed Wong, Jeannie Hsiu Ding and Zin, Hafiz M. and Pawanchek, Mahzom and Ng, Kwan Hoong (2019) Medical physicists in Malaysia: A national workforce survey 2019. Physica Medica, 67. pp. 40-49. ISSN 1120-1797 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2019.10.019 doi:10.1016/j.ejmp.2019.10.019
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic R Medicine
spellingShingle R Medicine
Wong, Jeannie Hsiu Ding
Zin, Hafiz M.
Pawanchek, Mahzom
Ng, Kwan Hoong
Medical physicists in Malaysia: A national workforce survey 2019
description Objective: Medical physics in Malaysia is still considered a young profession. This workforce survey aims to understand the status, aspirations, motivation and experiences of medical physicists (MPs) in the country. A subsection of this survey also aims to understand the role of women. Method: A survey was carried out between April 20 and May 30, 2018 by a working group under the Medical Physics Division of the Malaysian Institute of Physics (IFM). The survey form was designed using Google Form and sent to various public and private institutions nationwide that employed MPs registered with IFM. Results: A total of 106 responses (28% men and 72% women) were analysed. This represented 30% of the medical physics workforce. Majority of them had postgraduate degrees, but their clinical training is mostly obtained on the job with no certification. The number of low-ranking female MPs was disproportionately high. MPs worked long hours and achieving work-life balance (WLB) was a challenge. Factors that improved their WLB included working close to home, having a supportive manager and flexible working hours. Most MPs aspired to become professional and mentor younger compatriots, besides contributing to patient care and research. Gender discrimination was reportedly low. Conclusion: Medical physics in Malaysia is growing and has a strong representation of women. In future, they would probably take over the top management from their male counterparts, whose number had stagnated. A united effort was essential to set up a proper clinical training system to train clinically qualified MPs. © 2019 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica
format Article
author Wong, Jeannie Hsiu Ding
Zin, Hafiz M.
Pawanchek, Mahzom
Ng, Kwan Hoong
author_facet Wong, Jeannie Hsiu Ding
Zin, Hafiz M.
Pawanchek, Mahzom
Ng, Kwan Hoong
author_sort Wong, Jeannie Hsiu Ding
title Medical physicists in Malaysia: A national workforce survey 2019
title_short Medical physicists in Malaysia: A national workforce survey 2019
title_full Medical physicists in Malaysia: A national workforce survey 2019
title_fullStr Medical physicists in Malaysia: A national workforce survey 2019
title_full_unstemmed Medical physicists in Malaysia: A national workforce survey 2019
title_sort medical physicists in malaysia: a national workforce survey 2019
publisher Elsevier
publishDate 2019
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/23166/
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2019.10.019
_version_ 1651867409455251456
score 13.211869

Similar Items