Novel and Specialised External Beam Radiotherapy

Details

Title

Novel and Specialised External Beam Radiotherapy

Type

Stage Two

Module code

HPE118

Requirement

Optional

Module objective

At the end of this module the Clinical Scientist in HSST will have an in-depth understanding and competence in an area of specialised radiotherapy practice. This may involve any technique, new or established, that is in routine clinical use but is not universally available, such as proton beam therapy (PBT), intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT), stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT), highly integrated adaptive radiotherapy (HI-ART), total body irradiation (TBI) respiratory gating, stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR). They will be able to appraise the readiness of an area of novel or specialised practice for application in local and/or national practice. They will be able to conduct the necessary steps to bring a service into the clinic. The Clinical Scientist in HSST will have an awareness of key areas of active research and development in radiotherapy. They will be expected to critically evaluate their own response to both normal and complex situations using the professional attributes and insights required of a Consultant Clinical Scientist.

Knowledge and understanding

By the end of this module this module the Clinical Scientist in HSST will be able to analyse, synthesise and critically apply their expert knowledge with respect to areas of development in novel and/or specialised radiotherapy, the potential benefits over existing standard of care and patient safety, and the status with regard to widespread clinical adoption. Areas to be considered include:

• Most recent developments in accelerator technology and beam delivery.
• Methodologies for adaptive radiotherapy.
• Novel radiobiological strategies.

In an area of specialised practice relevant to this module the Clinical Scientist in HSST will have expert knowledge of:

• Theoretical underpinning, including the evidence base.
• Clinical rationale – effect on therapeutic ratio over alternative techniques.
• Practice guidelines, national or international.
• Relevant clinical trials.
• Practice variations.
• Risks (including risk of secondary cancer induction).
• Limitations.
• Impact of errors and uncertainties on patient outcome.
• Possible developments.
• Relevant specialised dosimetry.
• Relevant specialised quality control.

Technical and clinical skills

By the end of this module the Clinical Scientist in HSST will demonstrate critical application of their understanding across a range of technical and clinical skills in an area of specialised practise and will:

• Use and evaluate planning techniques.
• Use and evaluate dosimetry and quality control techniques.
• Make accurate dose validation measurements:
  • internal;
  • against other centres;
  • against national standards.
• Critically evaluate choices in process and compromises made in comparison with other centres.
• Justify the methods used with reference to published data.
• Use and evaluate strategies in the event of non-standard situations.

The Clinical Scientist in HSST will evaluate an area of novel radiotherapy practice and analyse the readiness of the technique for local and/or national clinical practice and the steps necessary to fill any gaps. This may include:

• Review of available research.
• Cost-benefit analysis.
• Business planning.
• Risk assessment.
• Implementation planning.
• Training needs analysis.

Attitudes and behaviours

By the end of this module the Clinical Scientist in HSST will be expected to consistently demonstrate the attitudes and behaviours necessary for the role of a Consultant Clinical Scientist and be able to:

• Collaborate in multidisciplinary teams.
• Cooperate with peers at other radiotherapy providers.
• Promote the importance of improving patient outcomes through innovation in a safe and verifiable manner.
• Promote evidence-based medicine.