(Press-News.org) Reston, VA—Leaders from 12 nuclear medicine organizations around the world have issued a white paper about the challenges and opportunities in theranostics education. Published in the June issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, the report outlines the current theranostic educational and accreditation offerings across the globe. It also provides guidelines to assist countries in developing educational and training curriculums that enable physicians to confidently and safely perform nuclear theranostics procedures.
The concept of theranostics refers to the integration of therapeutics and diagnostics into a single management approach. Through their high sensitivity and specificity, theranostic radiopharmaceuticals have started to play a major role in precision medicine by significantly improving patient disease management, particularly in oncology.
“As exciting as it sounds, the clinical implementation of theranostics radiopharmaceuticals in nuclear medicine faces significant challenges. The practice of a fully integrated diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine specialty requires an in-depth knowledge in many different fields of medicine, radiochemistry and radiopharmacy, dosimetry and radiopharmacology, complex imaging equipment along with an in depth understanding of patient’s diseases and management, health-care systems and health-care economics,” said the authors. “This type of complex knowledge, experience, and expertise represents both unique opportunities and significant challenges for medical school, imaging, and nuclear medicine centers across the globe.”
In the report, members of the Nuclear Medicine Global Initiative summarize the educational and training initiatives on theranostics available worldwide between 2018 and 2022. Participating organizations include the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine, Asia Oceania Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology, Arab Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, British Nuclear Medicine Society, Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine, European Association of Nuclear Medicine, International Atomic Energy Agency, Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine, Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine, South African Society of Nuclear Medicine, Society of Nuclear Medicine–India, and Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.
Given the diversity in the backgrounds of providers and in order to ensure appropriate and safe use of nuclear theranostics, a curriculum template with minimum requirements is desirable to provide proper education, training, and expertise for the use of theranostics. The report outlines a universal framework for postgraduate education and training of nuclear medicine physicians for proficiency in nuclear theranostics. It also includes a framework for educating current nuclear medicine physicians about theranostics.
“Like the other fields in medicine, the science and practice of theranostics radiopharmaceuticals is very rapidly evolving. Continuing medical education will be critical to maintain sufficient and up-to-date knowledge and expertise to perform diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures,” the group noted.
This article was made available online in May 2023.
The authors of “Theranostics Radiopharmaceuticals: A Universal Challenging Educational Paradigm in Nuclear Medicine” include Jean-Luc Urbain, Helen Nadel, Daniel Lee, and Richard Wahl, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging; Andrew M. Scott and Sze Ting Lee, Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine; John Buscombe and Charlotte Weston, British Nuclear Medicine Society; Jun Hatazawa, Asia Oceania Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology; Seigo Kinuya, Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine; Baljinder Singh, Society of Nuclear Medicine – India; Mohamad Haidar, Arab Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging; Andrew Ross and Francois Lamoureux, Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine; Jolanta Kunikowska, Wolfgang Wadsak, and Rudi Dierckx, European Association of Nuclear Medicine; Diana Paez and Francesco Giammarile, International Atomic Energy Agency; Kyung-Han Lee and Joo Hyun O, Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine; and Modiselle Moshe, Lizette Louw, and Stuart More, South African Society of Nuclear Medicine.
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Please visit the SNMMI Media Center for more information about molecular imaging and precision imaging. To schedule an interview with the researchers, please contact Rebecca Maxey at (703) 652-6772 or rmaxey@snmmi.org.
About JNM and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) is the world’s leading nuclear medicine, molecular imaging and theranostics journal, accessed 15 million times each year by practitioners around the globe, providing them with the information they need to advance this rapidly expanding field. Current and past issues of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine can be found online at http://jnm.snmjournals.org.
JNM is published by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to advancing nuclear medicine and molecular imaging—precision medicine that allows diagnosis and treatment to be tailored to individual patients in order to achieve the best possible outcomes. For more information, visit www.snmmi.org.
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Nuclear medicine global initiative reports worldwide challenges and opportunities in theranostics education
2023-06-23
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