Aligning Outreach Curriculum with Learner Demand: Survey-Informed Design of Medical Physics Workshops for Students In Africa
Abstract
Purpose
Shortages of trained medical physicists persist across Africa. Needs-assessment surveys were utilized to determine trainee interest and medical physics curricular gaps to aid in design of hands-on outreach workshops for the African School of Physics, a several week long school for college students across Africa to attend labs and lectures on various topics in physics.
Methods
Qualtrics surveys were distributed to African physics undergraduate/graduate program leads and students. Leads reported on availability and barriers to including medical physics content while students completed 5-point Likert assessments of awareness and interest.
Results
106 respondents reported from 18 countries with 57 respondents completing all questions. Program leads reported that most programs include some medical physics content (72% yes, n=25), but only 52% offered a dedicated track and hands-on laboratories were rare (12%). Interest was rated “very” or “extremely” high by 61% and 78% perceived interest has increased over the past 5 years. The most common barriers were shortages of trained faculty and limited resources. Students (n=32) reported high baseline awareness and career interest (heard of medical physics 4.41/5; understand the role 4.28/5; career interest 4.25/5) but lower confidence in where to find medical physics resources (3.5/5). Curricular exposure was greatest for X-ray/fluoroscopy (69%), MRI (56%), dosimetry (50%), and radiation protection (50%), and lowest for treatment planning and brachytherapy (each 19%). Desired hands-on experience was highest for MRI (4.12/5) and X-ray/fluoroscopy (3.93/5) and lowest for brachytherapy (3.0/5), suggesting demand aligns with prior experience.
Conclusion
Interest in medical physics is strong and growing in Africa, yet dedicated tracks and laboratory experiences remain limited and constrained by faculty and resource availability. These findings are informing need-driven workshops in MRI, X-ray/fluoroscopy, brachytherapy, and treatment planning that expand hands-on exposure in high-demand subjects, introduce underrepresented topics, and encourage interest to strengthen the medical physics pipeline in Africa.