Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

Treatment planning is an essential component of radiation therapy skills and a firm grasp of fundamental principles underpinning planning practice is essential. This unit is essential in order to familiarise students with these terminology and concepts. The other aspect of the pre-treatment process involves simulation and calculation of parameters for palliative radiotherapy. This unit allows students to practice palliative simulation and monitor unit calculations in a safe environment in order to prepare them for clinical practice. Highlighting the importance of accurate working and the potential impact of errors builds on the radiation safety principles being learned concurrently in the radiation safety unit. After completion of this unit the student will be prepared to apply their knowledge to the treatment planning process including palliative simulation and calculations. This can be applied in both subsequent treatment planning units PCB396 and clinical units starting with PCB389.

Aims

This unit aims to provide students with a sound understanding of terminology, concepts and principles underpinning treatment planning and basic calculations for radiation therapy.

Objectives

On completion of this unit you should be able to;

1. Describe and explain essential treatment planning terminology and concepts.

2. Explain fundamental principles and concepts underpinning dosimetry.

3. Use dosimetric data and factors to accurately calculate monitor units for palliative patients.

4. Explain and evaluate essential principles relating to simulation of radiation therapy patients.

Content

· Inverse square law
· Percentage Depth Dose
· Beam characteristics
· ICRU 50, ICRU 62
· Introduction to simulation and CT.
· Isodose distributions
· Introduction to 2-dimensional planning, wedges, weighting, normalisation
· Factors.
· Manual calculations

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

A range of learning and teaching strategies will be employed in this unit. The lectures will introduce you to key concepts relating to the principles and practice of planning. These will be complemented with regular practical sessions to consolidate your understanding. The practicals will use the 3D treatment planning system as well as clinical simulation equipment to provide you with the opportunity to develop genuine and relevant practical skills. Problem-based learning will challenge you to apply your knowledge and understanding to realistic clinical situations and you will be introduced to this in this unit with sample patient calculations.

As you progress through the Course you will be expected to become increasingly active in your learning and the teaching and learning strategies will reflect this approach, allowing you to progress to autonomous learning. For this unit, you will be provided with the essential information and opportunity to practice but you will need to supplement this with further reading and self-directed study. You will be required to reflect on your progress and performance in the unit at regular intervals. Additionally you should identify areas for development and address these with the aid of unit teaching staff where appropriate.

This unit requires you to engage with the Blackboard learning environment regularly. Specific learning materials including suggested reading, links to relevant internet sites and other electronic resources will be located on Blackboard. You will be required to complete regular online tests via Blackboard and where possible use Blackboard to submit your written assessments.

A key aspect of the Course is fostering a thriving learning community and for this unit, the building blocks for this will utilise the Blackboard discussion board tools. You will be expected to engage regularly with your peers and tutors and key learning will take place via online question and answer sessions.

The final approach to teaching and learning relates to assessment for learning. The assessments for this unit are designed to ensure maximum understanding of the content and it is important that you recognise the role of assessment in your learning. You should view the assessments as part of your learning and ensure that you utilise the feedback to progress your learning and personal development.

Assessment

Students must achieve a satisfactory level of performance in both theoretical and practical components of this unit to achieve a passing grade and enable progression to Clinical Radiotherapy 1.Feedback is provided throughout the semester, where work is reviewed and assessed. Feedback will aim to provide students with suggestions for further development of academic skills as well as suggestions for further study where appropriate. Timescales for feedback will be communicated to students prior to assessment submission but will aim to be returned within 3 weeks where possible. Provisional marks and feedback for this unit will be made available via Blackboard and accessible from the ¿My Grades¿ tool. Some tests within Blackboard will be automatically marked and these marks and automatically generated feedback will be available immediately after test submission.

Assessment name: Palliative Pre-Treatment Rpt
Description: Clinical Practical simulation sessions will be conducted throughout the semester and ongoing feedback will be provided. A short reflective report of this experience including calculation of monitor units for example patients will be submitted for marking.
Relates to objectives: 3 and 4.
Weight: 20%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: During Semester

Assessment name: Phase Tests
Description: Short online tests will be taken after each practical seminar to test student understanding of essential principles and to ensure steady progression of learning.
Relates to objectives: 1 and 2.
Weight: 20%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Throughout Semester

Assessment name: Final Examination
Description: Written examination will be held at the end of semester.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Weight: 60%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Central Exam Period

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

Required Texts

1. Khan F (2010). The Physics of Radiation Therapy. 4th Ed. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.

2. Khan F (2007). Treatment Planning in Radiation Oncology. 2nd Ed. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.

References

1. Barrett A, Dobbs J, Morris S, Roques T (2009). Practical Radiotherapy Planning. 4th Ed. Hodder Arnold

2. International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (1993). Prescribing, Recording and Reporting Photon Beam Therapy (ICRU Report 50)

3. International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (1999). Prescribing, Recording and Reporting Photon Beam Therapy. Supplement to ICRU Report 50. (ICRU Report 62)

4. Metcalf P, Kron T, Hoban P (2007). The Physics of Radiotherapy X-rays and Electrons. Medical Physics Publishing

A range of literature from journals including:
1. International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics
2 Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice
3. Medical Dosimetry
4. Radiotherapy and Oncology

Additional resources are located on the Blackboard site for this unit.

Risk assessment statement

The only out-of -the-ordinary risks associated with the unit relate to the practical exercises held in the clinical departments. You will receive instructions on radiation safety issues and radiation monitoring badges to wear during these sessions.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 21-Sep-2012