ESTRO 2025 - Abstract Book

S4230

RTT - Education, training, advanced practice and role developments

ESTRO 2025

2113

Digital Poster Recipe for success: Advanced Practice Radiation Therapists’ Perspectives on Essential Education and Training Components Yat Man Tsang 1,2 , Maria P Dimopoulos 3 , Samantha Skubish 3 , Caitlin Gillan 2 , Nicole Harnett 1,2 1 Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada. 2 Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. 3 Department of Radiation Oncology, Mount Sinai Health System, New York, USA Purpose/Objective: With the growing demand for Advanced Practice Radiation Therapists (APRTs), understanding the pathways for preparing for these APRT roles is essential. Currently, no formal universally recognized APRT education programs exist. This study aims to explore APRT perspectives on the educational and clinical preparations needed for advanced practice. Material/Methods: A qualitative method using a virtual focus group interview was deployed and participants were selected based on the criteria (i) qualified clinically practicing radiation therapists; and (ii) currently in formal advance practice roles, within the APRT International Community of Practice membership repository. Of those who volunteered to participate, ten APRTs agreed to participate on the date and time proposed. Semi-structured questions guided the focus group interview with the purpose to explore the participants’ personal APRT preparation experiences, insights on past and current APRT training programs, and their perspectives on integrating academic knowledge with practical clinical skills within a structured APRT educational framework. Thematic analysis of focus group discussions was conducted to identify key themes related to APRT educational and clinical preparations. The AI tool ChatGPT was utilised to generate synthesized summary statements for each focus group interview question, and the resulting data were subsequently validated by the research study team. Results: Nine APRT participated in the focus group from five countries (5 Canada, 1 US, 1 UK, 1 Italy and 1 Australia). Seven out of nine participants (78%) obtained Master in Science qualifications in which only three of them were specific to radiation therapy advanced practice. Six main themes related to APRT educational and clinical preparations were identified and organized by order of perceived importance: building confidence in decision-making, integration of academic and clinical skills, well-being and support systems, mentorship and exposure to multidisciplinary learning, education program structure and clinical training hours, and project management skills. The description and interpretations for each theme is summarized in the table below.