PURPOSE The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) International Council (IC), in collaboration with Help Ukraine Group (HUG) and the Ukrainian Association of Medical Physicists (UAMP), developed a novel hybrid year-long training course to assist Ukrainian medical physicists in transitioning from Co-60 to intensity-modulated radiation therapy during the war. METHODS To create a comprehensive curriculum for the course, AAPM IC committees, HUG, and UAMP conducted a needs assessment survey. Based on the survey results, the course was divided into three parts: foundational knowledge and linear accelerator commissioning (Part 1), treatment planning and quality assurance (QA) program (Part 2), and practical sessions on linear accelerator commissioning, QA, and treatment planning (Part 3). Part 1 and 2 featured 50 1.5-2 hour virtual lectures, with prelecture and postlecture assignments, delivered online with interactive questions, and artificial intelligence-driven synchronous subtitling in Ukrainian, while Part 3 included four 3-day practical sessions in Ukrainian at two clinical sites using equipment from two different vendors. RESULTS A total of 131 medical physicists and students enrolled in Part 1 and 2, including almost all practicing medical physicists in Ukraine. Part 1 and Part 2 lectures were endorsed by AAPM and accredited by Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs. Average examination scores increased from 51.2% to 82.5% (Part 1) and 53.3% to 89.4% (Part 2). Satisfaction scores averaged 9.3 ± 0.9 of 10, with 96.3% recommending the course and 70% claiming changing practices. Practical sessions (Part 3) involved 62 participants, with examination scores improving from 57.8% to 80.5%. The average satisfaction for Part 3 was 9.8 ± 0.7 of 10. CONCLUSION This collaborative training initiative demonstrates a concerted effort to support, educate, and expand the medical physics community in Ukraine during wartime. It can serve as a model for similar initiatives in other low- and middle-income countries/upper middle-income countries.
Zelinskyi et al. (Sun,) studied this question.