Biomedical Physics Education for Healthcare Professions: A Lithuanian Contribution

The rapidly increasing number of medical methods and devices based on physics principles and the consequent importance of their effective use, patient safety and personal protection have accentuated the role of biomedical physics in the healthcare professions. In the case of Lithuania, following independence there was a need to renew biomedical physics education for healthcare professionals. Vilnius University joined with other Lithuanian institutions and with European partners to implement three projects in the period 2000-2008. These projects were concerned with the place of biomedical physics in the medical curriculum and with developing teaching and learning materials, both traditional and ICT based. With our international partners, work was carried out on the harmonization of the biomedical physics curricula for healthcare professions. Teaching and learning materials were developed using a modular structure which allowed for easy adaptation to the needs of various healthcare professions and of different national contexts. This paper presents an overview of biomedical physics education for the healthcare professions in Lithuania and of the projects, summarizes the work carried out, experience acquired, and highlights elements that may be of benefit to the international community in the development and harmonization of biomedical physics for the healthcare professions.