ESTRO 2025 - Abstract Book

S2173

Interdisciplinary – Education in radiation oncology

ESTRO 2025

References: 1. Kovalchuk N et al. Supporting Ukrainian Radiation Oncology Practitioners in Fight against Two Evils: Cancer and War. ESTRO. 2. Strengthening Radiation Therapy and Medical Imaging in Ukraine – IAEA Statement 77th Session of the World Health Assembly Geneva, 2024. 3. ASTRO and ESTRO call for action: Maintaining the cycle of innovation in radiation oncology. 4. https://helpukrainegroup.org/medical-education/virtual-training/ 5. https://www.rayoscontracancer.org/training-programs

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Digital Poster Multidisciplinary training of Radiation Oncologists in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia: Data from ESTRO Educational survey Fatjona Kraja 1,2 , Monica Emila Chirilă 3,4 , Ivica Ratosa 5,6 , Malina Ioschici 7 , Jesper Grau Eriksen 8 1 Surgery Department, University of Medicine, Tirana, Tirana, Albania. 2 Oncology Clinic, University Hospital Center "Mother Teresa", Tirana, Albania. 3 Radiation Therapy Department, Amethyst Radiotherapy Centre, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. 4 Clinical Development, MVision AI, Helsinki, Finland. 5 Division of Radiotherapy, Oncology Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. 6 Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. 7 Radiation Therapy Clinic, Institute of Oncology “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. 8 Experimental Clinical Oncology Department, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark Purpose/Objective: The study objective was to get an overview of Radiation Oncology (RO) training in the Eastern European and Northern Asia countries. Material/Methods: An online questionnaire was emailed to 25 National Society representatives in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It comprised 26 questions and it was open from June 2023 to February 2024. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed to give an overview of the current situation. Results: We analysed answers from 23 countries. The majority of participants were female (60.8%), younger than 45 years (52.2%), specialized in RO (78.2%) and with at least 5 years’ experience as a specialist (73.9%). RO is a separate specialty in 74% of the countries and in 26% it is part of Clinical Oncology speciality. In 34.8% of the countries there is only one training centre and 21.7% have more than 10 training centres. The number of trainees per year varied from less than 5 (in 30% of the countries), to approximately 100 (in Russia). Academic hospitals are the training place in 74% of the countries. Most of the countries have a four or a five-year program (73,9%) and the other 3 years or less. All countries have a multidisciplinary module during residency, but their proportion is variable. RO module has more than 6 months in 79.3% of the countries, medical oncology and surgical oncology modules have less than 6 months in 65.2% and 79.3% of the countries, respectively. The ESTRO curriculum was recognized as being implemented in 13% of the countries. The participants rated as “good” or “very good” their training in clinical practice (61.9%), contouring skills (61.9%) and plan evaluation (52.4%). The theoretical knowledge provided by the national training programs was rated as “acceptable” by 57.1% of the participants. Clinical research knowledge was considered as “poor” or “very poor” in 42.8% and was not part of the training in 28.6% of the countries. Level of competence was rated as “good” or “very good” for IMRT/VMAT in 52.8% of the countries, for SBRT/SRT/SRS in 42.8%, for HDR brachytherapy in 42.8% and for LDR brachytherapy in 19%. Experimental technologies were part of the training in very few countries (23.8% for IORT, 14.3% for protons and heavy ions, 4.8% for FLASH).