From education to research: A journey of utilising virtual training

© 2015 Cambridge University Press.Background London South Bank University (LSBU) has successfully implemented Virtual Environment for Radiotherapy Training (VERT) across the therapeutic radiography training curricula and are now supporting the use of VERT for patient education in clinical departments. A number of publications have reported on the use of VERT in education and training; more recent literature has focused on the use of VERT for patient education. Materials and methods The successful introduction of VERT before students' first clinical placements resulted in the development of a 'Pre-Clinical week' where students practice and improve their technical skills, using the hand controls without a patient present, leading to increased confidence in clinical practice. Other examples of VERT curriculum integration at LSBU focused on the use of VERT for anatomy teaching. The more recent innovation at LSBU relevant to VERT integration has been the design, development and implementation of collaborative research projects where the aims of the studies were to explore patients' perceptions of VERT as an information giving resource before radiotherapy delivery. Summary The introduction of VERT as education tool has enabled academic staff to develop a range of teaching methods to embed virtual training into the traditional classroom setting, demonstrating innovation and collaboration

Evaluating VERT as a radiotherapy plan evaluation tool: comparison with treatment planning software

AbstractIntroduction:The virtual environment for radiotherapy training (VERT) helps students to gain technical skills and understanding of 3D anatomy and dosimetry. It has potential as a tool for treatment plan evaluation, although little formal evidence currently supports this.Aim:This paper reports findings from a plan evaluation workshop that facilitated comparison of VERT plan evaluation tools with those provided by conventional treatment planning software (TPS).Method:Students on a pre-registration Post-Graduate Diploma in Radiotherapy worked in small groups evaluating lung plans using both VERT and Eclipse TPS tools. All students were invited to provide ratings concerning how helpful each modality was for a range of evaluation parameters and preferences for use.Results:Most students (11 out of 14) found the session useful and expressed a desire to use VERT in future plan evaluation. The TPS was perceived to be more helpful with constraint-based evaluation while VERT was more helpful with evaluating plans for clinical set-up and delivery (p &amp;lt; 0·001).Conclusion:Student therapeutic radiographers found VERT to be helpful as a plan evaluation tool alongside standard TPS tools, in particular for clinical set-up and delivery aspects of planning. Future work is ongoing to identify the specific impact of VERT as a plan evaluation tool for both students and qualified planners.</jats:sec

Pilot study on virtual imaging for patient information on radiotherapy planning and delivery

It is widely accepted that health professionals might sometimes underestimate cancer patients' needs for information on the complex process of radiotherapy (RT) planning and delivery. Furthermore, relatives might also feel excluded from the treatment of their loved ones. This pilot study was carried out in order to assess whether both patients and their relatives would welcome further information on RT planning and delivery using the virtual reality (VR) system VERT. One hundred and fifty patients with different types of cancer receiving radical RT were included in the study. Patients and relatives were shown using VERT on a one-to-one basis with an oncologist or a radiographer, a standard room where RT is given, a linear accelerator, and how RT is planned and delivered using their own planning CT Scans. Patients welcomed this information as it helped them to reduce their fears about RT. Relatives felt also more involved in the treatment of their loved one. The results obtained in this pilot study show that VR aids could become an important tool for delivering information on RT to both patients and relatives

Review of online educational resources for medical physicists

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135684/1/acm20368.pd

Conception d'une activité d'apprentissage authentique utilisant un simulateur virtuel dans le programme Technologie de radio-oncologie

Il s’agit d’une recherche de développement de type conception d’une activité d’apprentissage (Paillé, 2007) dont l’objectif général est de concevoir une activité d’apprentissage authentique utilisant un simulateur virtuel d’une salle de traitement de radiothérapie pour développer la compétence associée à l’analyse d’un plan de traitement chez les étudiantes et les étudiants de 2e année en Technologie de radio-oncologie. Cette recherche est basée sur un cadre de référence appuyé par une recension des écrits en lien avec les concepts de compétence clinique, de situation authentique et de simulation. Cette recherche a permis de développer et de valider une activité d’apprentissage auprès de l’équipe enseignante du programme de radio-oncologie du Collège Ahuntsic. L’approche qualitative privilégiée dans cette recherche est basée sur une posture épistémologique interprétative. Les outils de collecte de données soumis aux enseignantes et aux enseignants, un questionnaire d’items ouverts et fermés ainsi que des entrevues semi-dirigées individuelles ont permis de documenter la démarche de validation de l’activité d’apprentissage développée. L’analyse des effets de l’activité sur les étudiants et les étudiantes ne fait pas partie de cette recherche et pourra être assurée par une recherche subséquente. Les données recueillies ont permis de valider l’authenticité de l’activité développée, sa cohérence par rapport à la compétence clinique visée, sa structure générale ainsi que les consignes et grilles d’évaluation. Des modifications ont également été apportées à l’activité développée grâce aux commentaires des enseignantes et des enseignants ayant participé à la collecte de données : une version améliorée de la nouvelle activité est présentée à la fin de cet essai

Virtual reality training for radiotherapy becomes a reality

A report in 2007 to the UK Government identified a crisis in England for training staff and students for the radiotherapy treatment of cancer. The Hull authors have developed an immersive life size virtual environment of a radiotherapy treatment room, known as VERT, to address this problem. VERT provides the trainee with models, simulation, enhanced visualization and training aids for treatment of virtual patients in a virtual treatment room. In 2007 immersive VERT systems for radiotherapy training were established for training purposes at the University Aarhus Hospital (Denmark) and the Birmingham City University (UK). This paper reports on early evaluations of VERT by these two institutions