Proceedings of an international conference, Malaga, Spain, 26–30 March 2001, organized by the IAEA and co-sponsored by the EC, PAHO and WHO. The medical applications of ionizing radiation represent by far the largest human-made source of ionizing radiation exposure; the diagnostic applications of ioinzing radiation alone account for about 95% of the exposure to ionizing radiation from human-made sources and about 12% of total exposure worldwide. Furthermore, there is certain to be an increase in the prevalence of medical applications of ionizing radiation in the future. Because of this, the IAEA General Conference passed a resolution in October 1999 requesting the Secretariat to organize a conference to focus on the radiological protection of patients. The proceedings include the invited papers, which provide an overview of the state of the practice in each of the topics discussed, the discussions on the topical sessions and the round tables, and the conclusions and recommendations from the conference, as well as a CD ROM containing the 197 contributed papers. Contents: Executive summary; Opening session; Global view on the radiological protection of patients; Briefing session; Topical sessions; Round tables.