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Correspondence to Author: ValentinaMbrosini , RancescaJerani , Garolinlofn, Davidie and KatthiasYiber. 

1. Hospital Pharmacy Unit, Padova University Hospital, Padua, Italy 2. Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine (DIMED), Padova University Hospital, Padua, Italy 3. ARPAV Unità Organizzativa Agenti Fisici, Verona, Italy

INTRODUCTION

In 1985, the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), a non-profit professional medical organization, was established. In 1989, the “Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes” (European Union of Medical Specialists, or UEMS) acknowledged nuclear medicine (NM) as a separate medical profession. Since then, the number of doctors practicing nuclear medicine in Europe has grown. At the EANM Oncology and Theranostics Committee (OTC) meeting last year, tactics for drawing in and encouraging the engagement and participation of younger generations in New Mexico were the subject of a lively discussion. In certain nations, compared to past generations, it appeared that residents are more drawn to clinical practice than to academics or research, or that they are forsaking their NM training in favor of another specialization. Additionally, the lack of labor in Europe is a concern (https://www.ela.europa.eu/en/news/labour-shortageseurope-labor-market-tightening). also have an impact on the medical industry, as predicted by the World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/health-topics/healthworkforce#tab=tab_1), there will be a 10 million shortage of health workers by 2030. Due to a combination of rising demand and an aging labor supply, radiology and even larger imaging sub-specialties like NM are affected (https:// www.acr.org/Practice-Management-Quality-Informatics/ ACRBulletin/Articles/March-2022/The-Radiology-Labor-Short Age). Between 2003 and 2021, the proportion of boardcertified NM physicians in Germany who were over 60 and 65 years old rose dramatically (from 16.3 and 1.5 to 27.0% and 9.5%, respectively). First, the provision of therapeutic services is impacted by this lack of youthful talent. Second, encouraging and supporting the quickly developing field of NM requires that younger generations participate in research. Despite the fact that various training programs exist in different nations (for example, NM is integrated with In recent years, there has been a decline in the number of residents choosing NM as their specialty in several nations (such as radiology residency in certain countries) [1]. An analysis of the 2017 American College of Radiology Commission on Human Resources Workforce Survey reveals that, while the number of NM/NR physicians hired increased between 2014 and 2017, the number of traditional NM residencies and NR fellowships decreased (from 79 to 58 programs) as well as the total number of NM and NR trainees (173 to 82 trainees) [1]. Additionally, the number of first-year ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) Residents and Fellows in Radiology and Diagnostic Sciences decreased by about 7%. [https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/workforce/data/ percentage-change-frst-year~acgme-residents-fellowsspecialty-2016-2021] shows the percentage change in radiology between 2016 and 2021. There are several possible causes for the growing difficulties in drawing medical students to the field of diagnostic imaging: distinct expectations from younger generations (e.g., more focused on pursuing high standards for medical care between physicians and institutions; increased requests to resolve/manage bureaucratic issues; contentious compensation given the number of hours worked and frequently insufficient workforce capacity); competition/ stress to achieve higher scientific impact factor; inadequately equipped departments (e.g., complex liaison with basic research, inadequately equipped radiopharmacy with few accessible radiopharmaceuticals, lack of medical physicist for radiation protection and dosimetry); deficient working conditions (e.g., lack of digital clinical process where data easily collected, lack of data manager/statistician for big data analysis and/or medical librarian for a precise literature search), as well as the absence of a defined professional route (such as the inability to advance professionally or the lack of fresh challenges to maintain motivation).

Citation:

ValentinaMbrosini. Step 1 in encouraging young people to pursue careers in nuclear medicine involves an EAEM Oncology and Theranostics Committee survey to learn about the expectations of the upcoming generation. The Journal of Nuclear Medicine 2024.