Contribution of Medical Physicists During COVID-19 in the Middle East

A new scientific book with title of “medical physics during the COVID- 19 pandemic”  published by CRC press on 18 March 2021 , the book is a response which explores: How the COVID-19 pandemic has affected clinical practice, education, and research in medical physics, and How colleagues on the frontline dealt with this unpredictable and unprecedented pandemic.
The book edited by Kwan Hoong Ng and Magdalena S. Stoeva , and it focuses on the different experiences of medical physicists in different regions: Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and North and Latin America with over 91 contributors from 39 countries and it also tackles key questions such as:

• How did medical physicists first respond to the situation?
• What innovative strategies were taken and how effective were they?
• How are medical physicists preparing for the future?

This is the first book to cover the impact of COVID-19 on the field of medical physics with broad, global coverage, ranging from the impact on teaching, research, and publishing, with unique perspectives from journal editors, students, and trainees. It is edited by two experts in the field, with chapter contributions from subject area specialists around the world.
The Chapter 9 of this book speaks about the middle east region. The contributors to this piece of work are: Huda Al Naem - Qatar, Mohammed Hassan Kharita - Syria, Meshari Al Nuaimi - Kuwait, Refat Al Mazrou - KSA, Rabih Hammoud - Lebanon, Zeina Elbalaa - Lebanon, Zakia Al Rahbi - Oman, Hanan Al Dosary - Kuwait, Ismail A. Abuawwad - Palestine and Ibtesam Nasser AL-Maskari - Oman.
The chapter from middle east summarizes the contribution from the national societies with emphasis on the importance of protection of staff and patients in addition to the cooperation with physicians for better diagnosis and treatment for the COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, it addresses the activities related to all aspects of medical physics, health physics and radiation safety in radiology, radiotherapy, and nuclear medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some examples from the different MEFOMP member countries.