On 20–21 June 2024, St. Petersburg hosted the first high-level BRICS International Forum on Nuclear Medicine organized by the Russian Ministry of Health and Rosatom State Corporation.
Participants and experts from Russia, India, Iran, South Africa, Ethiopia, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates convened to discuss a number of topics related to the organization of a system of continuing professional education, the development of a certification programme for nuclear medicine specialists and interactive educational modules, and the establishment of specialized training centres.
According to experts, nuclear medicine is now a special branch of medicine that offers novel avenues for precise disease diagnosis and effective treatment, extending beyond oncology to encompass cardiology and neurology. In the recent past, Russia has witnessed the introduction of numerous diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals into clinical practice.
In her speech at the session, Dr. Darya Ryzhkova, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Technology with Clinic at the Institute of Medical Education, highlighted the importance of training personnel in nuclear medicine. Training in nuclear medicine should begin at the university level, and this can be facilitated by the introduction of new educational programmes in specialized universities, the inclusion of an independent educational programme on radionuclide diagnostics and therapy as part of the specialty training in general medicine and paediatrics.
Darya Ryzhkova also noted that nuclear medicine is a multidisciplinary specialty, and the main assistants of doctors are radiochemists, whose activities are focused on the development, synthesis, and quality assessment of radiopharmaceuticals. A radiochemist should produce medical preparations directly in the institution where they will be used.