Radiography

Background: Virtual environments in medical education are becoming increasingly popular as a learning tool. However, there is a large amount of evidence linking these systems to adverse effects that mimic motion sickness. It is also proposed that the efficacy of such systems is affected by how well they engage the user, which is often referred to as presence.

A fundamental requirement in radiography training is that education is linked with clinical application. It has been recognized in nursing education that service providers and educators emerge from different value systems and perspectives . Other nursing studies found that whereas the university's mission was to prepare professionals for effective functioning in a changing environment, healthcare agencies must be concerned with content and technique to preserve nursing competencies [2, 3]. Some regional health authorities have employer-led competency statements written into their contracts with training institutions [4]; however, these are not in general use. It is suggested that collaboration between educators and employers is crucial to provide feedback for curriculum modification and to bridge the gap between employers' needs and training provision.

This study explores the attitudes of radiographers in two countries (UK and New Zealand) to mandatory CPD prior to a mandatory CPD policy being implemented. Postal questionnaires were sent to 1739 radiographers (250 in the UK and 1489 in New Zealand), in collaboration with the respective professional bodies in both countries.

Introduction: This study reports the attitudes of UK radiographers to mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) following the introduction of a mandatory policy, compared to a survey undertaken prior to the mandate being introduced. Methods and method of data collection: An electronic survey was advertised within 152 hospitals, across a range of hospital types (for example: rural, urban, teaching, district general) and geographic areas to minimise any potential bias through sampling. 406 radiographers responded to the survey, which was endorsed by the College of Radiographers. Results: The study showed that the overall attitude score had not increased significantly, demonstrating an ongoing relatively ambiguous attitude towards CPD. There was an increase in the number of radiographers recording CPD, though radiographers still expressed discontent over the need to evidence CPD activity. The study showed a change in the perceived primary barrier to CPD away from funding to time: time to undertake CPD; and time to record CPD activity. While the activity score had not significantly increased, a broader view of what constitutes CPD was evidenced, away from the previous narrow focus on attendance based activities. Support for CPD also showed no significant change, suggesting that the onus for CPD still predominantly remains with the individual radiographer. The introduction of a mandatory CPD policy has not significantly impacted on the attitudes of radiographers towards CPD activity. The study raises a number of questions which would benefit from further study and highlights some ongoing issues which impact on CPD in practice.

IntroductionStudies have investigated the prevalence of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue in various healthcare professions. However, the majority of evidence is linked to the nursing profession and little is known about paramedical professions such as radiography and even less is known about its prevalence in students. The purpose of this study was to describe the levels of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue in the student population and how they varied in time.MethodsStudents undertaking radiotherapy training at the researcher’s host sites were surveyed using the Professional Quality of Life questionnaire at the end of each final clinical block in each year of their training.Results and conclusionDuring the 3 years of training compassion satisfaction falls and burnout increases in the student population, although the change is not significant. Secondary traumatic stress increases significantly during the 3 years of training, F=5·725, p=0·005. Considerable ...

Ergonomic training is necessary to help reduce work-related upper limb disorders (WRULD) in sonographers. This study provided an ergonomic training session for sonographers, to determine whether a teaching intervention changed the grip force used to hold a transducer. Thirteen practitioners participated and were placed into two groups (intervention group n = 7). Participants were asked to scan the same simulated transabdominal early pregnancy case. An ergometer was used, which enabled all participants to hear the effect of holding the transducer tightly. Their matched grip force was measured before and after the intervention using a dynamometer. The intervention group reviewed videos and photographs taken during the scan to see if this affected the matched grip force further. Study findings showed that the short ergonomic training session with the use of an ergometer significantly reduced the matched grip force applied to a transducer ( P < .05) for all participants. The video/ph...

Background. Information is key to patient informed choice and the internet is currently a major source of health information for adults in the UK. In order for the users to make use of the information it must be presented in a way that the user can understand. This depends on a number of factors one being that the document is written at the right level to be understood by the reader, readability. Aim. The aim of this study was to assess the readability of radiotherapy related documents on the internet and compare their levels to published norms. Method. An internet search was undertaken using Google, to identify UK based literature. Once identified documents were downloaded into Word and cleaned of punctuation other than that at the end of the sentence, documents were then analysed by the software package Readability Studio. Results and Conclusions. Documents tended to be written at too high a reading level, but the reading level had improved from a similar study conducted in 2006. The level of readability appears to show a relationship to the use of passive voice, which was very variable in the sample collected and reduction in the use of passive voice could help with the readability of the information.

The education of the radiography profession is based within higher education establishments, yet a critical part of all radiography programmes is the clinical component where students learn the practical skills of the profession. Assessments therefore not only have to assess a student’s knowledge, but also their clinical competence and core skills in line with both Health and Care Professions Council and the Society and College of Radiographers requirements. This timely thesis examines the possibility of using the Virtual Environment for RadioTherapy (VERT) as an assessment tool to evaluate a student’s competence so giving the advantage of a standard assessment and relieving time pressures in the clinical department. A mixed methods approach was taken which can be described as a Quantitative Qualitative design with the emphasis being on the Quantitative element; a so called QUAN  qual design. The quantitative evaluation compared two simulations, one in the virtual reality environme...

Virtual reality in the form of VERT (Virtual Environment for Radiotherapy) has been used for radiography training since 2007. The system is a back projection system that allows the user to work within a 3D radiotherapy treatment room interacting with the room via a machine hand pendant which allows full control of the unit as in real life. With the demands within the profession and Higher Education both constantly changing we have to constantly re-evaluate our teaching and assessments in order to give the students the best learning experience whilst measuring their competencies against set professional criteria. Method: The study was a mixed methods design consisting of a randomized crossover study of 52 subjects undertaking the Radiotherapy programme at City University who were asked to undertake a simulated electron setup on both VERT and a phantom in a radiotherapy treatment unit. This was followed by focus group interviews to consider the student's perspective of using VERT in this way. Subjects also completed an immersive tendencies questionnaire and presence questionnaires. Results: The results presented are from an interim analysis based on their first setup. Results indicate significantly better performance on the real treatment unit (5.23) compared to VERT (3.62) p<0.001. The focus groups also reported that they felt VERT was not suitable as a measure of competency, but felt it could be used very effectively as a training tool for setups if the final assessment was on the treatment unit.

study objective: the study intended to investigate the possible relationship between physical activity and prostate cancer risk on a previously unexamined population set.design: a population-based study was conducted on males entered on the irish cancer registry between the years 1994 to 1997 to investigate if physical activity affected the risk of prostate cancer. activity was coded for three levels of occupational activity and the odds ratios were calculated together with 95% confidence limits.results: despite limitations in the data, an elevated risk (odds ratio 2.13, 95% confidence interval 1.29–3.52) was seen in working subjects with low levels of activity compared with the high activity group. in the retired group there was a slight elevation of risk, although it was not statistically significant.conclusion: the study suggests that physical activity offers a small but significant reduction in prostate cancer risk for those people in work.

In 2009 an asynchronous on-line case discussion assessment was introduced, to replace an existing traditional case-study assessment, within the Medical Ultrasound Programmes at City University London, to help extend collaborative, interprofessional student-led learning skills. Two clinical modules were used to develop the on-line learning method with associated assessments. Students selected and led a clinical case from their department, uploaded anonymised images and case details with questions, to encourage interaction from other colleagues. Thirty students participated in the on-line case discussions. The assessment was evaluated via informal feedback, end of module feedback and an on-line questionnaire. Some students completed two modules, using the on-line discussion, others were involved in only one module, of which 21 out of 26 students completed end of module feedback for the 1 st module and 18 out of 20 students completed feedback from the 2 nd module. Twelve students out of 30 completed the on-line questionnaire. Feedback suggested that the on-line case discussions were a good learning tool, providing a wide range of cases for students to participate in or read and learn from each other. All students found the cases interesting, engaging and useful, but time consuming.

Introduction The ScanTrainer transvaginal ultrasound simulator has been developed to facilitate initial training of transvaginal ultrasound skills without patient contact. Due to the intimate nature of the examination and in some cases, limited training opportunities, the need for simulation-based education in ultrasound has gained momentum. Currently, research into the effectiveness of the ScanTrainer is limited. Methods A mixed method study was conducted in a single institution between October 2011 and January 2012. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling and allocated to the control (clinical training) or experimental (simulation training) group following a pre-test. After 10 hours of their allocated transvaginal ultrasound training method a post-test assessment was conducted and the results statistically analysed. Participants then experienced the alternative method of training and completed questionnaires. The results were used to inform semi-structured interview...

Experimentation on an RT250 Phillips X-ray machine, used to treat superficial skin lesions, led to the discovery of deformed treatment fields, which was investigated using X-ray film. The cause of the field irregularity was found to be due to the circular applicators becoming misaligned in the housing. The treatment field was deformed when using the 3 cm and 3.5 cm applicators giving grounds to recommend the removal of these applicators from clinical use.

Background: Cancer related fatigue, a symptom that was largely ignored in the past, is now regarded by health care professionals as being one of the most important patient issues because of its prevalence and impact on patients undergoing the various cancer treatments. Over the past 10 years the interest in this field has increased and the information available about this subject area has vastly improved. As a result of these changes it was decided to survey the two main professions involved with this patient group to identify what information is currently given to the patients regarding radiotherapy-related fatigue and to assess the professional's knowledge. Method: Questionnaires designed to ascertain health care professionals' knowledge about the subject area and the advice that they would give a patient were sent to a total of 29 hospitals. Results/Conclusion: An overall response rate of 56% was obtained which was greater for radiographers (71%) than for nurses (41%). The advice being given to the patients was essentially the same for both groups however the nurses tended to give the advice at the start of treatment whereas radiographers tended to wait until the patient was symptomatic which, it is argued, is not the best method. Advice would be modified by both health care groups depending on the site treated, however there was no general agreement about which site would cause most fatigue. Despite these differences in advice to patients, the knowledge of fatigue was found to be similar for both groups.

Patients undergoing cancer treatments, including radiotherapy, frequently report fatigue during their treatment. Recent research indicates that structured exercise programmes can alleviate fatigue and, in light of this research, many centres are now advocating activity as part of the strategy with which to combat fatigue. The aim of this investigation was to see how well this strategy would be received by patients and what effect it would have on fatigue levels. Of the 147 patients who agreed to take part in the study 123 completed all the questionnaires. Fiftyfour of the patients received the standard advice whilst 69 received the modified advice. Fatigue was measured at four time points using the MFI scale. Fatigue scores at the end of treatment were significantly higher than at the start of treatment but there was no difference in fatigue scores between the two groups of patients receiving the different advice. Activity levels between the two groups were comparable, as was their ...

ESTRO 35 2016 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ relapse-free survival 79.6 % CI95% [72.1-85.2] and colostomyfree survival 81.2% CI95% [74.0-86.6]. Conclusion: IMRT is emerging as a standard therapy for anal cancer. A dosimetric analysis will be done to complete this study.

value of informed decision-making. The results indicate the need for greater public education regarding the benefits and principles of CCTs to increase future trial accrual. EP-2397 Therapeutic Radiographer follow up for prostate cancer patients.