Author: Chandrasekhar Kota 👨🔬
Affiliation: Christiana Care Hospital 🌍
Purpose: To reflect on the present and future role of Medical Physics in the Oncoverse.
Methods: Oncoverse is the rapidly evolving and expanding ecosystem of all things related to cancer. The Medical Physics Profession (MPP) has been an intrinsic component of Radiation Oncology, a well established pillar of traditional cancer care. Accelerating technological advances in recent years are changing the cancer care continuum at a rapid pace, which might impact the MPP. SWOT Analysis methods were used to gauge the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the MPP. Scenario Analysis methods were used to construct hypothetical scenarios of future states of the Oncoverse, and the role of MPP in these states.
Results: From the SWAT analysis, Strengths include a). established clinical role, b). scientific and technical training and expertise; Weaknesses include a). high cost, b). limited direct patient contact, c). dependence on regulatory requirements, Opportunities include a). expanding scope of practice to include AI implementation b). serving as champions of emerging technologies in the broader cancer care continuum; Threats include a). decreased role of radiation therapy due to rise of better therapies, b). Job creep from APs, dosimetrists and therapists, c). automation of traditional scope of practice. From Scenario Analysis, a wide range of future states of the oncoverse are possible, based on current pace of advances. The role of radiation in these states varies widely, and with it the role of medical physics in its current form.
Conclusion: As a profession, Medical Physics should be prepared for a variety of future states resulting from various advances in the Oncoverse. MPP should look to leverage our established role as technology enablers in radiation oncology to expand our scope of practice to the larger Oncoverse.