Asia-Pacific Special Interest Group: The first ten years

The Asia-Pacific Special Interest Group (APSIG) was formed in 2009 by the Australian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM) to support radiation oncology services in low-to-middle income countries in our region. In 2017, APSIG moved to the ACPSEM's charity, the Better Healthcare Technology (BHT) Foundation, enabling improvement in fundraising, marketing and partnerships with like-minded organizations.

APSIG's main activity is to recruit certified medical physicists as volunteers to train local staff in countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Mongolia. APSIG also supports remote mentoring, coordinates the delivery of donated radiotherapy equipment, and brings Asia-Pacific medical physicists to Australia and New Zealand for conferences and hospital training.

The number of APSIG volunteer assignments has been steadily increasing over the last decade. Challenges include the limited number of ACPSEM certified medical physics volunteers, the limited opportunities to train the local physicists due to their heavy workloads, and language barriers. The COVID-19 pandemic has halted volunteer assignments for now but a range of alternative means of assistance such as webinars, online tutorials and virtual meetings are planned to continue APSIG's activities.

APSIG will continue to provide a support service to radiation oncology staff in the Asia-Pacific region. APSIG and the BHT Foundation's work promotes quality health care by supporting medical physicists in Asia-Pacific countries and championing better radiotherapy technology access and treatment knowledge sharing.