ESTRO 2024 - Abstract Book

S2703

Interdisciplinary - Education in radiation therapy

ESTRO 2024

Colette Meevissen-Dijcks 1 , Maud de Rooy 2 , Pascale Simons 1

1 Maastro, Radiotherapy, Maastricht, Netherlands. 2 Maastro, Radiotherapy, maastricht, Netherlands

Purpose/Objective:

During the implementation of a new Electronic Health Record System (EHR), the entire clinic had to be trained, including different professional groups such as radiation oncologists (RTO), radiation technologists (RTT), physicists, patient planners, reception staff and physician assistants. A structured training approach was used because there was little training time due to staff shortages, little time to implementation and, the method had itself already proven useful optimizing plan quality and reduce variation among RTTs. This training method, we called it Lean learning (figure 1), was a compilation of the corporate curriculum, the 70-20-10 principle and the Toyota way of training and includes the following components; process analysis with experts, documentation of reasoning, development of learning interventions, learning in one’s own context, peer reflection, uniformity in training and systemic structure.

Material/Methods:

A project team was formed, with two members from each discipline. They were responsible to develop the training. We mainly focused on creating online training through very short video recordings, with a maximum of five minutes per video. The short videos could be viewed independent of time and location, which is a huge benefit during training. In addition, the videos could be watched over and over again, and were therefore useful as a performance support tool in actual clinical practice. Multiple practical cases were described for each target group and context and training sessions were concluded with a test case. The reasoning behind the decision making was most important within training. Therefore, in-depth questions were included in test cases. Finally, each target group completed training with a complex test case, including complex deviations of the standard process and trainees had to look for creative solutions. Trainees had to work in pairs, incorporating social learning into the induction process. The training period was concluded with a self-assessment. The training of the group of physicists and RTO needed a different approach. The physics did not have the opportunity to practice with test cases, because external links did not work. The RTO’s did not have the opportunity to record short videos due to lack of time resulting in a more traditional training where a classroom training was combined with an e-learning. All components were incorporated in a learning management system (LMS), enabling follow-up of the individual trainees. The training process was evaluated using a questionnaire at the end of every trainee’s training program and was included in the training path in the LMS.

Results:

Within four weeks, approximately 350 people have been trained within all disciplines. An average duration of 5 hours per person was scheduled for the entire training. For 90% of trainees this time was sufficient for trainees to consider themselves competent. Trainees rated the structured training method with a 7.8 on a 1-10 scale, see Table 1. The level of difficulty of the practical cases was rated a 7.2 (scale 1-10). Physicists and RTOs recorded lower scores, because they used the practice environment less or not at all. On the question if the trainee felt competent after the training to work in real practice, the trainees scored on average a 6.2 (scale 1-10). People experienced the training method and practicing with the case studies as helpful, but they still felt the need for more time to practice. Unfortunately, this was not possible due to lack of time and workforce shortage.