Best practice in radiation oncology: A project to train the trainers: Review of 2008-2023

Mary Coffey; Colleen Dickie; Elena Fidarova; Velimir Karadža; Philipp Scherer; Michelle Leech

doi:10.1016/j.tipsro.2024.100281

Best practice in radiation oncology: A project to train the trainers: Review of 2008-2023

Tech Innov Patient Support Radiat Oncol. 2024 Oct 19:32:100281. doi: 10.1016/j.tipsro.2024.100281. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Authors

Mary Coffey¹, Colleen Dickie², Elena Fidarova³, Velimir Karadža⁴, Philipp Scherer⁵, Michelle Leech^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Applied Radiation Therapy Trinity, Discipline of Radiation Therapy, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
² Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Center, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada.
³ Section of Applied Radiation Biology and Radiotherapy, Division of Human Health, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria.
⁴ University of Applied Health Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia.
⁵ University Clinic for Radiotherapy and RadioOncology of the PMU at the County Hospital Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
⁶ Trinity St. James's Cancer Institute, Dublin, Ireland.

Abstract

The European Society of Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) project on 'best practice in radiation oncology: a project to train the radiation therapist trainers' commenced in 2008. The aim of the project was to influence education programmes throughout, mainly, eastern Europe to increase the radiation therapy-specific education of their programmes. This is to enable graduates of these programmes to be radiation therapists that are fit for purpose in the clinic. This paper provides an update on the successes of the project to date, the challenges that remain and the new approaches to project delivery by the faculty over this period.

Keywords: Education and training; Radiation therapist.