BHPA as Professional Union: Follow up explanatory meeting

we would like to invite you for a second virtual meeting during which these updated ideas (below) are presented. We will have a virtual voting to identify your general feelings about these propositions and as a test for the general assembly.

First, why do we need a professional union for medical physicists in Belgium? This is what the Belgian law says:

• Une union professionnelle est une association destinée à l’étude, la protection et le développement des intérêts professionnels de ses membres.
• Een beroepsvereniging is een vereniging die instaat voor de studie, de bescherming en de ontwikkeling van de beroepsbelangen van haar leden

As a professional union we would like to represent all effective AND affiliated members in these important domains:

• Studie/l’étude: create scientific board composed out of Medical Physicists and affiliated members such as nurses/technologists, engineers,… within the professional union. Improve the quality of the training and internship of future Medical Physics Experts, organize continuing education for active Medical physicist and Medical Physics Assistants,…
• Bescherming/protection: We NEED official representation of Medical Physicists, Medical Physics Assistants and affiliated members within authorities such as FANC, FOD Health care or IFIC to have say about legislation and salary. A professional union is the official way to do this.
• Ontwikkeling/développement : We NEED a professional union to create our own future: Do we want to become a health care professional? Do we need Medical Physics Assistants active in medical imaging or nuclear medicine, Do we need an Medical Physics Expert (recognized by a competent authority) in MRI?,…

We propose a new membership organization in which the professional union is composed of effective members and affiliated members both represented and supported by the union.

We subdivide the effective members into two parts:

1. Medical Physicist: A professional working in Belgium with a minimum level of M.Sc. who applies the principles and methods of both physics and medicine to provide patient-oriented technical support for preventive, therapeutic and diagnostic medical procedures. (full definition on the BHPA website section professional matters)

2. Medical Physics Expert: A professional who is certified by a Belgian competent authority (e.g. FANC) to practice independently one or more of the subfields in medical physics in Belgium. (full definition on the BHPA website section professional matters)

The professional union will represent and support other professionals with same interests and anyone with the same goal of improving the quality of treatments delivered to patients. These affiliated members are subdivided into following parts:

1. Connected members: These can be nurses, technologists, dosimetrists, radiotherapy planners, engineers,… involved in individual patient care carrying out (delegated) tasks from medical physicists.
2. Honorary members,
3. Associated members (legal persons, i.e. company and or sponsors),
4. Corresponding members (medical physics scientists not fulfilling the definition of MP/MPE s.a. research physicists or foreign medical physicists) and
5. Student members

The new structure of the new membership organization can be found here on the website.

A link to this virtual meeting will be posted on the BHPA website in due time.

We hope to see you in great number !!

For the board of BHPA and the professional matters working group,