One of the 103: Physicists against cancer
Gloria Therese Eusebio
In the fight against cancer, medical physicists are at the frontline from diagnostics to treatment. From the Bicol Medical Center, Joybel Bugna is one of the 103 active radiation oncology medical physicists in the country.
Physicists in hospitals
Though this might sound like a physics class, but what are medical physicists?
We are able to see the things around us because of visible light– a type of radiation. But there is also a type that we do not see, like x-rays and radio waves. Medical physicists work with radiation in the hospital to help patients. They can specialize in diagnosing cancer, nuclear medicine, or like Bugna who specialize in cancer radiation treatment technologies.
In the Bicol Medical Center, Bugna deals with radiation in treating cancer. Her day-to-day roles include working with various machines for radiation therapy. Like chemotherapy, radiation therapy is used to treat cancer. Instead of chemicals, radiation therapy uses radiation to destroy cancer cells. This type of therapy does not affect the whole body but only certain parts that were exposed to radiation. It can be used along with other treatments.
As a radiation oncology medical physicist or ROMP, Bugna ensures that the patients, the public, and health workers are safe from the machines’ radiation. They also design radiation treatment plans for cancer patients.
We need more medical physicists
In a 2024 study led by Dr. Thomas Vincent T. Vergara, there is a demand for ROMPs and other radiation health workers. Since many of the 103 ROMPS are located in the National Capital Region, remote areas especially need radiation health workers.
“… The country needs more health physicists, not just medical physicists. We need more to provide more radiation services to the Filipino people,” said Bugna, explaining why students and physicists should venture into health physics.
There were 113,369 deaths from cancer in the Philippines and almost half a million Filipinos have cancer according to the Global Cancer Observatory in 2022, while there are only 55 working radiation therapy facilities in the Philippines. This goes to show that our country needs more radiation therapy facilities and professionals.
What it takes to be a ROMP
If you are interested in entering the world of health physics, Bugna narrates her journey to becoming one of the few ROMPS in the country. Bugna started at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) as an applied physics student where she then taught physics courses. She then took a master's degree in medical physics at the University of Santo Tomas– only one of the two universities offering a program in medical physics. Her father was then diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent radiation therapy.
Aside from passing a certification exam, one also has to complete a 3-year residency program in a field of specialization: diagnostic radiology, radiation oncology, or nuclear medicine to be a certified medical physicist. After finishing her master's, she continued teaching and research in diagnostic radiology.
However, there was a demand for medical physicists in radiation oncology in Bicol. She then applied to work clinically in the Bicol Medical Center– which was a challenge shifting from the academe to the hospital.
From diagnostic radiology, Bugna now specializes in radiation oncology— serving cancer patients, especially from marginalized communities in Bicol. She reminisces about her promise to her father– a key figure in Bugna’s career.
“When my father died, I promised him that I would serve him through the patients in my facility. I promised him to offer my future patients the expertise they needed the most when he was being treated. And I hope the service I commit to my patients makes him smile now, “
Catch Joybel Bugna at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Physics Student Alumni Faculty Forum 2024 on March 18 as she goes deeper into health physics.