Internationalising Research Methods Teaching of Undergraduate Health Professionals.

OBJECTIVE: The project aims were: (1) identifying the pedagogical impact of collaborative student experience on student understanding of research methods and (2) evaluating the perceived value of providing students with an international perspective on their professional practice. METHODS: Student cohorts from year 1 of the University of Liverpool (UoL) (n = 80) and year 2 of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT) (n = 128) undergraduate Medical Radiation Science degree programmes participated in the intervention as part of their teaching. Students were tasked with designing, deploying, and analysing data from survey-based research projects and invited to provide feedback via an anonymous and voluntary online survey (UoL students) or an equivalent paper-based survey (RMIT students), comprising both quantitative (Likert) and qualitative (open) questions. RESULTS: Responses were received from 83% of RMIT and 31% of UoL students. Over 42% of respondents enjoyed the opportunity to interact with overseas peers, while 14.7% did not; 40% of respondents felt the intervention helped in their understanding of research methods, whilst 28% indicated it had not. The main positive themes were learning the research process, team working skills, networking opportunities, and understanding cultural differences. Interpreting data were invaluable; only a minority valued the engagement with their overseas counterparts. There was poor engagement with social media. CONCLUSIONS: Students reported clear value of the innovation for learning research skills and process. The extent of research skills learning supports changes in research activity and culture in the past 10 years. With internationalisation becoming increasingly important in today's health care economy, the degree to which the students identified this aspect of the research as a key learning point highlights the benefits of the active approach. The negative appraisal of the social media support was interpreted as a response to the platform (WhatsApp) and privacy issues with sharing phone numbers.

Practice patterns of radiation therapy technology in Australia: results of a national audit.

INTRODUCTION: This article presents the results of a single-day census of radiation therapy (RT) treatment and technology use in Australia. The primary aim of the study was to ascertain patterns of RT practice and technology in use across Australia. These data were primarily collated to inform curriculum development of academic programs, thereby ensuring that training is matched to workforce patterns of practice. METHODS: The study design was a census method with all 59 RT centres in Australia being invited to provide quantitative summary data relating to patient case mix and technology use on a randomly selected but common date. Anonymous and demographic-free data were analysed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Overall data were provided across all six Australian States by 29 centres of a possible 59, yielding a response rate of 49% and representing a total of 2743 patients. Findings from this study indicate the increasing use of emerging intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image fusion and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) technology in Australian RT planning and delivery phases. IMRT in particular was used for 37% of patients, indicating a high uptake of the technology in Australia when compared to other published data. The results also highlight the resource-intensive nature of benign tumour radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of routine national data collection, the single-day census method offers a relatively convenient means of measuring and tracking RT resource utilisation. Wider use of this tool has the potential to not only track trends in technology implementation but also inform evidence-based guidelines for referral and resource planning.

Factors influencing radiation therapy student clinical placement satisfaction.

INTRODUCTION: Radiation therapy students at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) attend clinical placements at five different clinical departments with varying resources and support strategies. This study aimed to determine the relative availability and perceived importance of different factors affecting student support while on clinical placement. The purpose of the research was to inform development of future support mechanisms to enhance radiation therapy students' experience on clinical placement. METHODS: This study used anonymous Likert-style surveys to gather data from years 1 and 2 radiation therapy students from QUT and clinical educators from Queensland relating to availability and importance of support mechanisms during clinical placements in a semester. RESULTS: The study findings demonstrated student satisfaction with clinical support and suggested that level of support on placement influenced student employment choices. Staff support was perceived as more important than physical resources; particularly access to a named mentor, a clinical educator and weekly formative feedback. Both students and educators highlighted the impact of time pressures. CONCLUSIONS: The support offered to radiation therapy students by clinical staff is more highly valued than physical resources or models of placement support. Protected time and acknowledgement of the importance of clinical education roles are both invaluable. Joint investment in mentor support by both universities and clinical departments is crucial for facilitation of effective clinical learning.

Clinical perceptions of radiation therapy undergraduate competency standards.

INTRODUCTION: The multifactorial nature of clinical skills development makes assessment of undergraduate radiation therapist competence level by clinical mentors challenging. A recent overhaul of the clinical assessment strategy at Queensland University of Technology has moved away from the high-stakes Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to encompass a more continuous measure of competence. This quantitative study aimed to gather stakeholder evidence to inform development of standards by which to measure student competence for a range of levels of progression. METHODS: A simple anonymous questionnaire was distributed to all Queensland radiation therapists. The tool asked respondents to assign different levels of competency with a range of clinical tasks to different levels of student. All data were anonymous and was combined for analysis using Microsoft Excel. RESULTS: Feedback indicated good agreement with tasks that specified the amount of direction required and this has been incorporated into the new clinical achievements record that the students need to have signed off. Additional puzzling findings suggested higher expectations with planning tasks than with treatment-based tasks. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that the amount of direction required by students is a valid indicator of their level and has been adopted into the clinical assessment scheme. Further work will build on this to further define standards of competency for undergraduates.

A snapshot of radiation therapy techniques and technology in Queensland: An aid to mapping undergraduate curriculum.

INTRODUCTION: Undergraduate students studying the Bachelor of Radiation Therapy at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) attend clinical placements in a number of department sites across Queensland. To ensure that the curriculum prepares students for the most common treatments and current techniques in use in these departments, a curriculum matching exercise was performed. METHODS: A cross-sectional census was performed on a pre-determined "Snapshot" date in 2012. This was undertaken by the clinical education staff in each department who used a standardized proforma to count the number of patients as well as prescription, equipment, and technique data for a list of tumour site categories. This information was combined into aggregate anonymized data. RESULTS: All 12 Queensland radiation therapy clinical sites participated in the Snapshot data collection exercise to produce a comprehensive overview of clinical practice on the chosen day. A total of 59 different tumour sites were treated on the chosen day and as expected the most common treatment sites were prostate and breast, comprising 46% of patients treated. Data analysis also indicated that intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) use is relatively high with 19.6% of patients receiving IMRT treatment on the chosen day. Both IMRT and image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) indications matched recommendations from the evidence. CONCLUSION: The Snapshot method proved to be a feasible and efficient method of gathering useful data to inform curriculum matching. Frequency of IMRT use in Queensland matches or possibly exceeds that indicated in the literature. It is recommended that future repetition of the study be undertaken in order to monitor trends in referral patterns and new technology implementation.