ESTRO 2025 - Abstract Book

S2171

Interdisciplinary – Education in radiation oncology

ESTRO 2025

1 Radiation therapy, LISOD - Hospital of Israeli oncology, Kyiv, Ukraine. 2 Radiation therapy, State Institution «National Scientific Center of Surgery and Transplantation named after O.O. Shalimov to National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine», Kyiv, Ukraine. 3 Radiation therapy, Spizhenko Clinic, Kyiv, Ukraine. 4 Physics, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Harwich, MA, USA. 5 Radiation Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY, USA. 6 Radiation Oncology, St. Francis Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA. 7 Medical Physics Division, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA. 8 Medical Physics, MaineHealth Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME, USA. 9 Radiation Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. 10 Radiation Oncology, Duke University Hospital, Durham, NC, USA. 11 Radiation Oncology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. 12 Radiation Oncology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. 13 Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 14 Radiation Oncology, Ohio Health, Mansfield, OH, USA. 15 Radiation Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. 16 Theraputic Medical Physics, Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburg, PA, USA. 17 Radiation Oncology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA Purpose/Objective: The AAPM International Council, in collaboration with the Help Ukraine Group (HUG) and the Ukrainian Association of Medical Physicists (UAMP), organized a medical physics training course aimed at assisting medical physicists in Ukraine to transition from Co-60 to IMRT amidst the war. Material/Methods: To achieve this goal, members of the AAPM Global Needs Assessment Committee (GNAC), AAPM Global Medical Physics Education and Training Committee (GMPETC), Global Clinical Education and Training Committee (GCETC), the Clinical Education Working Group (CEWG), HUG, and UAMP collaborated to conduct a needs assessment survey and create a curriculum for Part 1 (foundational knowledge and linear accelerator acceptance and commissioning), Part 2 (treatment planning and QA program development), and Part 3 (practical sessions on linear accelerator commissioning, QA, and treatment planning). Pre-course and post-course exams, pre-lecture reading materials, lectures, and post-lecture assignments were developed, translated into Ukrainian and posted on TalentLMS through Global Oncology University. The lectures for Part 1 and 2 were delivered online via Zoom with AI-driven subtitling in Ukrainian. Part 3 practical sessions were conducted in 4 three-day sessions in two clinical sites based on equipment from two different vendors. Results: Total of 131 medical physicists and physics students registered for the course. Notably, all practicing medical physicists in Ukraine signed up. The curriculum, consisting of 50 virtual lectures for Part 1 and Part 2 received CAMPEP credits and AAPM endorsement. Part 1 and 2 lectures were held twice a week for 7 months. Initial evaluations indicated high participant satisfaction with course content (average ranking of 9.6±0.6 out of 10) and acceptable quality of synchronous translation from English to Ukrainian by 72.6% of respondents. At the end of Part 2, 76 participants completed all the course requirements including attendance of all the lectures, completing pre- and post- Part 1 and Part 2 exams, passing all the post-lecture assignments, and received the completion certificates. Average exam scores improved from 51.2% (pre-) to 82.8% (post-) for Part 1 and 69.2% (pre-) to 90.0% (post-) for Part 2. In the final evaluation survey, 96.3% of respondents would recommend the course to others, and 70% changed their practice based on the course. The final average satisfaction score was 9.3±0.9 out of 10. Conclusion: This collaborative training initiative demonstrates a concerted effort to support and educate medical physics community in Ukraine during wartime. It can serve as a model for similar initiatives in other LMICs and UMICs.

Keywords: AAPM, Help Ukraine Group, UAMP