Radiation Oncology Education Collaborative Study Group Physics Curriculum Needs Assessment for Radiation Oncology Residents.

Radiation physics is a core component of radiation oncology training and clinical practice. This study examined specific aspects of the current state of physics training for radiation oncology residents and assessed the needs of radiation oncology residents for improved physics education. An anonymous, web-based survey was developed with key stakeholders (radiation oncology residents, medical physicists and radiation oncologists). This cross-sectional multi-center survey was administered to radiation oncology residents in the United States and Canada in the Fall/Winter 2023. Out of 72 respondents, 90% were from the USA and 10% were from Canada. The proportion of year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 radiation oncology residents who responded were 0%, 15%, 25%, 38% and 22% respectively. All the respondents have a structured physics curriculum as part of their radiation oncology training program. However, only 39% of the respondents were aware of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM)/American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) core physics curriculum for radiation oncology residents. The overwhelming majority (99%) of respondents were interested in a high yield physics review covering the AAPM/ASTRO core physics curriculum to be available for free on the ASTRO ARRO (Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology) website. A question bank with detailed answers by topic (with electronically searchable capability) was deemed to be the most helpful (86% of respondents) or moderately helpful (13%). Several AAPM/ASTRO core curriculum topics are viewed by trainees as underemphasized or overemphasized in current physics training programs for clinical practice and for the American Board of Radiology Radiation Oncology Physics qualifying exam. Based on the results of this study, a high yield physics review covering the AAPM/ASTRO core physics curriculum in the form of a question bank with detailed answers will be developed. These results will be shared with stakeholder groups in an ongoing effort to assure that the physics curriculum content is most valuable for radiation oncology practice and will help inform domain weighting on certification examinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]