The palliative clinical specialist radiation therapist: A CAMRT White Paper.

Palliative radiation therapy (pRT) is an effective tool for people with incurable cancer, in the treatment of many cancer-related symptoms such as pain, bleeding and dyspnea. As utilization rates for palliative radiation therapy increase, the demands on the healthcare system continue to grow. Radiation Therapists with advanced knowledge, skills and judgements began demonstrating their ability to practice autonomously in 2004, with the development of the Clinical Specialist Radiation Therapist (CSRT) role.

A Canadian experience of palliative advanced practice radiation therapy TIPS: Training, implementation, practice and sustainability.

The concept of the Advanced Practice Radiation Therapist (APRT) was created in 2004, in response to pressures on the radiation treatment sector in Ontario. This led to development, piloting and integration of the Clinical Specialist Radiation Therapist (CSRT) into Ontario's cancer care framework. A national certification process, competency profile and protected title of APRT(T) were established in 2017, under the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (CAMRT), in collaboration with Cancer Care Ontario/Ontario Health.

Introducing operator characteristic curves to define appropriate frequency of quality control tests: A case study involving whole breast radiotherapy image guidance.

Background And Purpose: Sampling theory and operator characteristic curves are methods that can determine an optimal schedule for quality control tests. We apply this method to positional data for whole breast radiotherapy since several surveys report inconsistent image guidance practice for this technique.

Materials And Methods: Positional errors were defined, for 55 consecutive breast cancer patients, by comparing the central lung distance measured on portal images with that obtained from the corresponding digitally reconstructed radiograph.