ESTRO 2025 - Abstract Book

S4248

RTT - Education, training, advanced practice and role developments

ESTRO 2025

Purpose/Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the current RTT’s training pathway, in Tunisia, with regards to the content, educational materials and relevance to actual clinical practice. Material/Methods: A cross sectional study including RTTs from four radiation oncology departments was performed. RTTs were asked to fill in an 18-item structured survey to gather insights on their educational experiences. The survey investigated several aspects of RTT’s initial training including: the inclusion of core topics related to radiotherapy in the academic curriculum, the type and efficiency of teaching methods used in their training program, as well as the perceived relevance of their academic training to their actual clinical practice. Open-ended questions were included to elicit participants' opinions on areas for potential improvement. Results: A total of 35 RTTs were included in this study. The response rate was 100%. The mean age was 36 years. The sex ratio was 0.29. Forty-nine percent of RTTs worked in public radiation oncology departments and 51% in private clinics. More than 60% of the participants declared having acquired core competencies of basic and applied RT sciences in their academic curriculum, which were relevant to their clinical practice according to >50% of RTTs. Nonetheless, teaching methods were considered inadequate for >25% of the participants. On-line courses were the less appreciated teaching methods (77% of respondents), while practical training was the most appreciated one. However, 67% of surveyed RTTs advocated that time spent on practical training was insufficient. A large proportion of RTTs (40-60%) reported that relational skills, including communication with patient and with colleagues, and patient therapeutic education were not addressed through their curriculum. All participants expressed the need for practical lessons to improve RTTs training curriculum. More specific radiotherapy courses, in the fields of dosimetry (57.1%), patient positioning and immobilization (20.3%), radiation therapy-specific software (35.7%) were deemed necessary to enhance RTTs training. Eighty-four percent of RTTs mentioned the need for medical simulation-based training to better align academic curriculum with actual clinical practice. Conclusion: This study highlights several areas for improvement in the current Tunisian RTTs’ training pathway. While core competencies in radiotherapy were largely adressed, deficiencies in teaching methods, insufficient practical training, and limited relational skills training were significant barriers. RTTs’ preference for practical lessons, specific radiotherapy-focused courses, and simulation-based training underscores the need for a more hands-on and clinically aligned approach. Addressing these gaps could better equip RTTs to meet the demands of modern radiotherapy practices.

Keywords: RTTs; education; training improvement

2681

Digital Poster Burnout and job satisfaction among radiation therapists/ therapeutic radiographers in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Margaret Foley, Annemarie Devine, Andrew England, Mark Mc Entee, Theresa O' Donovan Discipline of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy, School of Medicine, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland Purpose/Objective: Over the next 20 years the World Health Organisation (WHO) projects a 70% increase in newly diagnosed cancer cases (1). Approximately 50% of patients with cancer will require radiation therapy (RT) at some point during their treatment (2), therefore the need for RT services increases along with the increase in incidence of cancer (3). Currently there is a staffing crisis among the RT workforce (4). Burnout (BO) and job dissatisfaction among