title: Continuing professional development systems for medical physicists

authors: Round, W. Howell

subjects: education

abstract: A survey of all the continuing professional development (CPD) systems used internationally was conducted in 2011 as a precursor to developing a policy on CPD by the Asia-Oceania Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics. The results of the survey are presented in this paper.
CPD of medical physicists throughout their careers is fundamental to ensure that they are up to date with current practices to ensure that they can perform their duties with competence and professionalism. The medical physicist professional societies support the concept, but only a fraction of them have adopted formal systems to ensure that clinical physicists keep their CPD up to date. In a few cases, licences to practice are only renewed if physicists can demonstrate that they have undertaken sufficient CPD.
In the majority of cases CPD systems are points-based where physicists are awarded a number of points for each activity they participate in. There is a requirement that they accumulate a number of points for various activities over a set number of years. In other systems where there is an emphasis on quality of CPD rather than quantity, physicists just keep a record of their activities which are audited periodically. It is difficult to achieve a ‘perfect’ system that balances the amount and quality of CPD undertaken by an individual. However, guidelines to how to assess CPD can be developed.

text: Continuing professional development systems for medical physicists A survey of all the continuing professional development (CPD) systems used internationally was conducted in 2011 as a precursor to developing a policy on CPD by the Asia-Oceania Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics. The results of the survey are presented in this paper.
CPD of medical physicists throughout their careers is fundamental to ensure that they are up to date with current practices to ensure that they can perform their duties with competence and professionalism. The medical physicist professional societies support the concept, but only a fraction of them have adopted formal systems to ensure that clinical physicists keep their CPD up to date. In a few cases, licences to practice are only renewed if physicists can demonstrate that they have undertaken sufficient CPD.
In the majority of cases CPD systems are points-based where physicists are awarded a number of points for each activity they participate in. There is a requirement that they accumulate a number of points for various activities over a set number of years. In other systems where there is an emphasis on quality of CPD rather than quantity, physicists just keep a record of their activities which are audited periodically. It is difficult to achieve a ‘perfect’ system that balances the amount and quality of CPD undertaken by an individual. However, guidelines to how to assess CPD can be developed.

year: 2011

title: Examining the link between information processing speed and executive functioning in multiple sclerosis

authors: Drew, Margaret A.

subjects: multiple sclerosis

abstract: Slowed information processing speed (IPS) is frequently reported in those with multiple sclerosis (MS), and at least 20% are compromised on some aspect of executive functioning also. However, any relationship between these two processes has not been examined. The Sternberg Memory Scanning Test, Processing Speed Index (WAIS-III), Delis Kaplan Executive Function System (D.KEFS), and Working Memory Index (WMS-III) were administered to 90 participants with MS. Their performance on the PSI was significantly below the normative scores but no deficits in memory scanning speed were evident. The initial response speed of the Sternberg and the PSI were more closely related to D.KEFS performance, particularly in timed tasks with a high cognitive demand (switching tasks). In contrast, memory scanning speed was related to working memory. This study reinforces the link between IPS and working memory in MS, and supports the suggestion that IPS is not a unitary construct.

text: Examining the link between information processing speed and executive functioning in multiple sclerosis Slowed information processing speed (IPS) is frequently reported in those with multiple sclerosis (MS), and at least 20% are compromised on some aspect of executive functioning also. However, any relationship between these two processes has not been examined. The Sternberg Memory Scanning Test, Processing Speed Index (WAIS-III), Delis Kaplan Executive Function System (D.KEFS), and Working Memory Index (WMS-III) were administered to 90 participants with MS. Their performance on the PSI was significantly below the normative scores but no deficits in memory scanning speed were evident. The initial response speed of the Sternberg and the PSI were more closely related to D.KEFS performance, particularly in timed tasks with a high cognitive demand (switching tasks). In contrast, memory scanning speed was related to working memory. This study reinforces the link between IPS and working memory in MS, and supports the suggestion that IPS is not a unitary construct.

year: 2009

title: From colonial categories to local culture: Evolving state practices of ethnic enumeration in Oceania, 1965-2014

authors: Kukutai, Tahu

subjects: Social Sciences

abstract: Numerous scholars have examined how governments in particular times and places have classified their populations by ethnicity, but studies that are both cross-national and longitudinal are rare. Using a unique database of census questionnaires, we examine state practices of ethnic enumeration over a 50-year period (1965–2014) in the 24 countries and areas that comprise Oceania. The region’s extraordinary linguistic and cultural diversity, combined with its complex colonial history and indigenous politics, make it an ideal site for comparative analyses. We find a shift from biological conceptions of difference to a more cultural understanding of group identity, exemplified by a sharp rise in language questions and the decline of race-based inquiries. While local identity labels have largely displaced colonial categories, the imprimatur of previous regimes still lingers, particularly in Melanesia. These shifts in official constructions of ethnoracial differences reflect a gradual lessening of colonial influences on demographic practices.

text: From colonial categories to local culture: Evolving state practices of ethnic enumeration in Oceania, 1965-2014 Numerous scholars have examined how governments in particular times and places have classified their populations by ethnicity, but studies that are both cross-national and longitudinal are rare. Using a unique database of census questionnaires, we examine state practices of ethnic enumeration over a 50-year period (1965–2014) in the 24 countries and areas that comprise Oceania. The region’s extraordinary linguistic and cultural diversity, combined with its complex colonial history and indigenous politics, make it an ideal site for comparative analyses. We find a shift from biological conceptions of difference to a more cultural understanding of group identity, exemplified by a sharp rise in language questions and the decline of race-based inquiries. While local identity labels have largely displaced colonial categories, the imprimatur of previous regimes still lingers, particularly in Melanesia. These shifts in official constructions of ethnoracial differences reflect a gradual lessening of colonial influences on demographic practices.

year: 2016