2017 HICARE/IAEA Internship Report
Daichi Hirata,
4th grade student, Department of Medicine, Hiroshima University
１．Overview of Internship

Duration: 01/10/2017 – 31/12/2017
Dispatching agency: Hiroshima International Council for Health Care of the Radiation-exposed(HICARE)
Agency: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Section: Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications
Division of Human HealthApplied radiation Biology and Radiotherapy (ARBR)
Purpose: To develop human resources who understand the significance and necessity of health careof the radiation-exposed with a global perspective, and who successfully accomplish
research activities in the field of the treatment of the radiation-exposed in Hiroshima
Prefecture.

Thanks to the recommendations and aid I received from HICARE, I was able to work at the IAEA,
located in Vienna, as an intern for three months. Since I had learned about the significance ofradiotherapy in cancer treatment in class, I expected this would be a good opportunity to deepen myknowledge in this field and learn how the guidelines are formulated. This was the reason why I
applied for the internship programme this time. During the internship, I performed many tasks, andthe details of these are written below.

2. Activities during the internshipⅰ. Survey about education of radiotherapy (Mass mailing)
Mr. Zubizarreta and an intern who was working before me were doing a survey to create aworldwide database of educational resources on radiotherapy. They had sent over 4000 emails to
institutions in member countries all over the world and received about 400 replies. Mr.Zubizarreta
gave me an opportunity to organize the replies in Excel sheet. We are still receiving replies, and I
added each of them to the Excel file when we received them during my internship period.

ⅱ. DIRAC data of Argentina update (comparison to ARN)
The IAEA creates and provides a database of facilities which have licenses for radiotherapy - The
Directory of Radiotherapy Centres (DIRAC). And some countries have their own database like it. Mr.
Rubio worked to renew the DIRAC data of Argentina and I compared DIRAC data to the data of The
Argentina Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN) and checked whether or not there are any differences
between them. It was hard to read for me because the data of ARN was written in Spanish, but
thanks to Mr. Rubio’s support, I was able to finish checking it.

ⅲ. WORLD DATABANK downloading (data updating for ARBR)
The ARBR has a database with many indicators that was downloaded from The World Databank andit was last updated in 2013. The ARBR didn’t have data after 2014. Mr. Rubio taught me how todownload the data and how to organize it in Excel sheet and I collected all the data from 2014 to2016 from the World Databank and submitted it to him.

ⅳ. Supporting the research for the possibility of sustainable radiotherapyMr. Rubio worked on the possibility of sustainable radiotherapy. To assess possibilities for eachmember country, the numbers of physicians, nurses, midwives, and hospital beds are very important
information. So I collected this data from 1960 to 2016 from the World Databank and organized it in
Excel sheet. Because I had collected data from the World Databank before, it was not so hard tofinish this task.

ⅴ. Supporting the survey for countries with low population density
Mr. Rubio also worked to find out the geographical disparities in accessibility to radiotherapy inhigh income countries. In a country with a large size or low population density, people do not havethe advantage of receiving radiotherapy and it causes bad oncologic outcomes. I collected andorganized historical population data in countries with low population densities and submitted it witha PowerPoint file. The experience of supporting this study was very helpful for me to understand theother study which I was involved in later because there was a strong relationship between them.

ⅵ. Attending the 1st Research Coordinators Meeting (RCM) of the Coordinated Research Project(CRP)
From 30 October to 3 November, there was an international meeting conducted by Mr. Belyakov
regarding the Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on Applications of Biological Dosimetry Methods
in Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology. Mr. Belyakov let
me attend it and I listened to some researchers making presentations. Because I didn’t have a deep
knowledge of this field, many of them were not easy for me to understand, but it was a very good
opportunity to see how the international meetings were conducted and progressed. I found it
interesting that the researchers were discussing not only new research or technologies, but also how
to make people in developing countries gain access to the correct knowledge.

ⅶ. Supporting the Bibliography
Ms. Fidarova was writing a paper about the relationship between radiotherapy and the quality oflife of patients with glioblastoma and she gave me an opportunity to assist with the bibliography tofinish it. Endnote was chosen to manage bibliographies and references in ARBR but it was my firsttime to use it, so I asked Mr. Belyakov to help me learn how to use it and he kindly accepted myrequest. Thanks to his support, I managed to collect references for the paper and submitted it to Ms.
Fidarova.

ⅷ. Assisting the research on radiotherapy inCanada
In November 2017, Ms. Chan, an intern from
Canada, started a new project to uncover theexistence of disparities in access to radiotherapy
within Canada. Though I was not specialized in thisfield, she kindly let me take part in it and I
supported the project for about two months. My
main job was to collect data that could be helpful
toward understanding the situation ofradiotherapy in Canada and organizing it in Excel
sheets. Participating in the project from thebeginning, I was able to learn how they conducted
the survey. While I was working on this project, we
had a meeting every week to discuss how toproceed with the project and a lot of members ofNAHU, including Mr. Zubizarreta, gave us many
useful pieces of advice there. Since I had
performed some tasks which were related to thisstudy(ⅴ), I was able to participate in this projectwith a better understanding. This study will be reported by Ms. Chan at the Radiation Therapy
Conference, which will be held in Toronto from March 2 - 3, 2018.

(Picture: With Ms. Chan. J and Mr. Zubuzarreta. E)

ⅸ. Participating in the discussion for a new radiotherapy facility in Palestine
The staff of the ARBR section give member states advice and support on radiotherapy techniques
and facilities every day. At the beginning of December, there was a discussion between the staff ofARBR and researchers from Jordan about building up a new radiotherapy facility in Palestine, which
was a non-member state of NA. They were mainly discussing how much resources, including
personnel, would be required and how much it would cost. Mr. Zubuzarreta showed me how hecalculated the cost with a specific indicator. This was a good opportunity to learn how they were
supporting the development of radiotherapy within member states and sometimes within nonmember states.

ⅹ. Participating in a Section Meeting
The ARBR have section meetings every two weeks.
All members could rarely gather in one place at thesame time because they had their own work in othercountries. They usually checked their schedules andupcoming meetings and shared what they were eachworking on. When they were to host a conference,
they discussed how to conduct the conference, whoto invite, where to hold it and what to discuss there.

(Picture: With the staffs of ARBR section except Mr.
P. Rubio)ⅺ. Visiting the laboratory in Seibersdorf
Mr. Otsuka, a Japanese staff member of the Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences (NAPC)
working as a nuclear data physicist, conducted a tour of the IAEA’s laboratory in Seibersdorf forJapanese Interns and I attended it. The IAEA’s Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications
owns 12 laboratories, with 1 in Vienna, 3 in Monaco and 8 in Seibersdorf, and they are a uniquefeature in the United Nations. The laboratories support and implement activities that respond to thedevelopmental needs of Member States in a range of subject areas. We visited the Safeguards
Laboratories which include the Environmental Sample Laboratory and the Nuclear Materials
Laboratories, and the Nuclear Sciences and Applications Laboratories including the Plant Breedingand Genetics Laboratory and the Insect Pest Control Laboratory.

(Certificate of Internship)3. Result of the internshipI experienced and learned a lot of things through the three-month internship at the IAEA. Working at
the international organization, I was able to learn specifically what kind of tasks the staff performed,and how they contribute to international cooperation. In addition, by attending the international
conferences, I was able to learn that many researchers are trying approaches to the development ofradiotherapy in member states from various angles. During this stay, I talked to a lot of people and I
was surprised that many of them spoke two or three languages besides English. The staff of ARBR
were actively sharing their knowledge and experience with others and helping each other. Though I
had little knowledge and experience, they kindly let me be involved in writing papers, performing
research surveys, and so on. Through them, I was able to learn many things which will be very usefulfor my future. I really appreciate HICARE for giving me such a precious and fruitful opportunity.

(Picture: With all staffs of ARBR section in Mr. Zubizarreta’s room)