Personnel training for nuclear medicine: essence, current status, and challenges

Introduction. The study is dedicated to addressing the systemic personnel shortage in nuclear medicine, which is caused by interdisciplinary fragmentation, a lack of unified educational standards, and misaligned professional pathways. Aim. The present research aimed to identify systemic issues in personnel training and to develop the theoretical and methodological foundations of an integrative model for continuous education within this industry. Methodology and research methods. Methodologically, this research is grounded in contextual and integrative approaches. An analysis of contemporary scientific literature and regulatory legal documents was undertaken. Methods employed include comparative analysis of educational programmes in medical and technical universities, systematisation of professional competencies, and identification of methodological and organisational-pedagogical barriers within the framework of networked interaction between educational and clinical institutions. Results. The issue of outdated professional and educational standards that fail to adequately meet the needs of the industry has been identified. The disciplinary divide between the medical and engineering-physics approaches to training personnel for nuclear medicine results in differing interpretations of its core principles and impedes interprofessional communication. Organisational and pedagogical barriers include the lack of integration of clinical practice within engineering education and the limited scope of radiochemistry programmes. Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty lies in the detailed identification of the interdisciplinary gap in training personnel for complex industries and the justification for the necessity of integrative pedagogical models based on the principles of continuity and a contextual approach. Practical significance. The practical significance resides in the potential application of these findings to develop an interdepartmental plan for modernising the personnel training system, aimed at addressing the industry’s staffing requirements and ensuring its technological sovereignty. 

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