7 November: what is celebrated today

International Day of Medical Physics

Medical physics was born from the meeting of human curiosity and the desire to heal. Behind every X-ray, every radiation treatment or advanced tomography scan, there is a medical physicist who measures, calculates, calibrates and ensures the safety of patients and professionals. Their quiet, essential work consists of transforming energy into a tool of hope.

In 2023, the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) celebrated the theme ‘Standing on the shoulders of giants’, recalling that every advance rests on centuries of discoveries and on the hands of those who dared to look at the invisible. This constantly evolving profession supports modern medicine in hospitals, laboratories and radiotherapy units, combining mathematical precision with human sensitivity.

7 November was not chosen at random: it is the birthday of Marie Curie, the woman who paved the way for a new scientific era. Her research into radioactivity and the discovery of polonium and radium forever transformed our understanding of matter and laid the foundations of nuclear medicine. A double Nobel laureate — in Physics and Chemistry — Curie challenged not only the boundaries of knowledge but also those of her time: she taught at the Sorbonne, created X-ray equipment during the First World War and saved the lives of thousands of soldiers.

Thanks to her, radiation, once feared, is now an ally against cancer and other diseases. Yet radioactivity, like any powerful force, demands responsibility: it can heal or destroy, illuminate or harm. Medical physicists are the guardians of that balance, the ethical interpreters of an energy that, used well, prolongs life and improves its quality.

Celebrating this day therefore means paying tribute to an almost invisible but vital profession. In a world that sometimes rewards the spectacular, they remind us that the true miracle lies in quiet accuracy, in the calculation that allows science to remain human.