STRÅL6300 Protons in Radiotherapy Course description

Language of instruction: Norwegian

The purpose of this course is to develop the students’ practical competence in individually-adapted psychomotor physiotherapy. The students’ treatment skills are the main focus of the course, where it is important that the physical and verbal ways in which they approach the patient complement each other. The current clinical picture shows an increasing proportion of patients with chronic and complex conditions. The course has a focus on patient-oriented treatment and what treatment and improvement can mean to this group of patients. Students will also look at the body-mind dualism. The physiotherapist’s role in mental health work is highlighted through observation training.

The student must have been admitted to the Master’s Programme in Health Sciences - Specialisation in Psychomotor Physiotherapy and hold Norwegian authorisation as a physiotherapist.

After completing the course, the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can discuss the physical and radiobiological aspects of proton radiation and is familiar with other particle radiation
• can explain accelerator technology and discuss radiation technique used in proton therapy
• can assess fixation and imaging in connection with planning proton therapy treatment
• can explain dose planning (dose calculation, dose distribution, robustness and different optimisation techniques) in proton therapy
• can explain which diagnoses/patients will benefit more from proton therapy than photon therapy, with respect to treatment effect and/or radiation-induced normal tissue toxicity
• can analyse professional issues relating to proton therapy
• can explain and assess uncertainties relating to dosage delivery for proton therapy
• can explain quality assurance and control, monitoring and verification of proton therapy
• can explain radiation reactions/side effects and follow-up of patients receiving proton therapy

Skills

The student

• can work independently and optimise proton dose plans when employing different techniques
• can independently assess and analyse any uncertainties relating to treatment planning and proton treatment
• can independently assess the need for adaption and changes during treatment
• can analyse dose distribution for proton plans and apply it when assessing different radiotherapy alternatives (e.g. photons)
• can independently apply radiobiological models for calculating biological effect

General competence

The student

• can communicate independent work and masters the forms of expression used in the field
• can communicate about issues, analyses and conclusions in the field of proton therapy, with patients, next of kin, specialists and the general public
• can interact with members of his/her own professional field and across disciplines when planning radiotherapy
• can actively contribute to the development of national/local guidelines for particle/proton treatment therapy
• can actively contribute to innovation processes and clinical studies

Work and teaching methods vary between lectures, flipped classroom, supervised skills training and student-active learning methods in the form of group work, seminars and presentations. The course is session-based.

The students will perform psychomotor physiotherapy on patients at their own place of work/practical training establishment.

Practical training period 1 starts after the first teaching session in the course MAPFY4100 and is concluded during this course. The students will also have three days of observation training.

The following must have been approved in order for the student to take the examination:

Coursework requirements that must be approved by the practical training supervisor:

• completed a minimum of 20 hours of group supervision
• completed 80 patient treatments
• individual records in accordance with specified criteria

Coursework requirements that must be approved by the lecturer:

• a minimum of 80% attendance in skills training and scheduled seminars and group work, and group supervision
• three days of observation training and an individual reflection note based on experience from practical training of up to 700 words

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Part 1) Pass/fail

Part 2) Grade scale A-F

The grade scale will be stated on the diploma on the basis of part 2.

Part 1: The midway and final assessments are made by the practical training supervisor. The final decision on whether to award a pass or fail grade is made by the university.

Part 2: All answers are assessed by one examiner. An external examiner is used regularly, at a minimum of every third completion of the course. When selecting answers for external evaluation, a minimum of 10 percent of the answers shall be included, with no fewer than 5 answers. The external examiner’s assessment of the selected answers shall benefit all students.

5 ECTS credits overlaps with PSYFY6100 in the topic treatment, and 5 ECTS credits overlaps with PSYFY6200 in the topic clinical training.

The course is offered as an individual course if there are vacant places. Admission to the course is contingent on completed further education in radiotherapy or equivalent, medical studies specialising in oncology, or a master’s degree in physics specialising in medical physics/biophysics.