Radiotherapy plays a fundamental role in the continuum of cancer care. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been assisting its Member States in the establishment, operation and upgrading of radiation oncology facilities for many years. Human resource development, which includes training of radiation oncologists, medical physicists, radiation therapy technologists, radiation biologists and radiation oncology nurses, is an integral part of the assistance as shortage of such trained professionals would be a serious obstacle to making radiotherapy accessible to cancer patients.

To ensure uniformity and consistency in the training that could be undertaken by the various institutions running their postgraduate programmes in radiation oncology, the IAEA formulated various syllabi for the education and training of professionals in radiation oncology/radiotherapy in order to provide guidance for all professionals and administrators involved in the training of this discipline. The different syllabi seek to address the training requirements in developing countries in order to establish a common and consistent framework. It provides both a structure for the organization of the training and a core curriculum. The guidelines outlined in the core curriculum could be adopted by the various Member States as a baseline for national curricula.