Cargando…
ACPSEM position paper on ROMP scope of practice and staffing levels for magnetic resonance linear accelerators
The purpose of this position paper is to outline the ACPSEM recommendations on Medical Physicist scope of practice and staffing levels, as they relate to the use of dedicated MRI-Linacs in the treatment of patients. A core function of Medical Physicists is to safely implement changes in medical prac...
Autores principales: | , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Springer International Publishing
2023
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10209343/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37041317 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13246-023-01253-4 |
_version_ | 1785046857986080768 |
---|---|
author | Marsh, Linda Rykers, Kym Sobolewski, Matthew |
author_facet | Marsh, Linda Rykers, Kym Sobolewski, Matthew |
author_sort | Marsh, Linda |
collection | PubMed |
description | The purpose of this position paper is to outline the ACPSEM recommendations on Medical Physicist scope of practice and staffing levels, as they relate to the use of dedicated MRI-Linacs in the treatment of patients. A core function of Medical Physicists is to safely implement changes in medical practice via the introduction of new technology and to ensure high quality radiation oncology services are provided to patients. Determining the feasibility of MRI-Linacs in any existing setting, or in establishing a new site, mandates the knowledge and services of Radiation Oncology Medical Physicists (ROMPs) as the Qualified Experts within this setting. ROMPs are key members of the multi-disciplinary team which will be required to steer the successful establishment of MRI Linac infrastructure within departments. To support efficient implementation, ROMPs must be embedded in the process from the start, including any feasibility study, initiation of the project, and development of the business case. ROMPs must be retained throughout all stages of acquisition, service development, and ongoing clinical use and expansion. The number of MRI-Linacs in Australia and New Zealand is growing. This expansion is occurring in parallel with rapid technological evolution, expanding tumour stream applications, and increasing consumer uptake. Growth and applications of MRI-Linac therapy will continue to occur beyond current known horizons, via development on the MR-Linac platform itself and through the migration of learning from this platform to conventional Linacs (known horizons for example include the use of daily, online image guided adaptive radiotherapy and MRI data informing decision making for planning and treatment before and throughout treatment courses). Clinical use, research and development will be a significant component of expanding patient access to MRI-Linac treatment and there will be an ongoing need to attract and retain ROMPs to initially establish services and in particular to drive service development and delivery for the life of the Linacs. MRI and Linac technologies mean it is necessary to perform a specialized workforce assessment for these devices, distinct from those employed for conventional Linacs and associated services. MRI-Linacs are complex, have a heightened risk profile compared to standard Linacs, and are unique in their treatment of patients. Accordingly, the workforce needs for MRI-Linacs are greater than for standard Linacs. To ensure safe and high-quality Radiation Oncology patient services are provided, it is recommended that staffing levels should be based on the 2021 ACPSEM Australian Radiation Workforce model and calculator using the MRI-Linac specific ROMP workforce modelling guidelines outlined in this paper. The ACPSEM workforce model and calculator are closely aligned with other Australian/New Zealand and international benchmarks. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13246-023-01253-4. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10209343 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Springer International Publishing |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-102093432023-05-26 ACPSEM position paper on ROMP scope of practice and staffing levels for magnetic resonance linear accelerators Marsh, Linda Rykers, Kym Sobolewski, Matthew Phys Eng Sci Med ACPSEM Position Paper The purpose of this position paper is to outline the ACPSEM recommendations on Medical Physicist scope of practice and staffing levels, as they relate to the use of dedicated MRI-Linacs in the treatment of patients. A core function of Medical Physicists is to safely implement changes in medical practice via the introduction of new technology and to ensure high quality radiation oncology services are provided to patients. Determining the feasibility of MRI-Linacs in any existing setting, or in establishing a new site, mandates the knowledge and services of Radiation Oncology Medical Physicists (ROMPs) as the Qualified Experts within this setting. ROMPs are key members of the multi-disciplinary team which will be required to steer the successful establishment of MRI Linac infrastructure within departments. To support efficient implementation, ROMPs must be embedded in the process from the start, including any feasibility study, initiation of the project, and development of the business case. ROMPs must be retained throughout all stages of acquisition, service development, and ongoing clinical use and expansion. The number of MRI-Linacs in Australia and New Zealand is growing. This expansion is occurring in parallel with rapid technological evolution, expanding tumour stream applications, and increasing consumer uptake. Growth and applications of MRI-Linac therapy will continue to occur beyond current known horizons, via development on the MR-Linac platform itself and through the migration of learning from this platform to conventional Linacs (known horizons for example include the use of daily, online image guided adaptive radiotherapy and MRI data informing decision making for planning and treatment before and throughout treatment courses). Clinical use, research and development will be a significant component of expanding patient access to MRI-Linac treatment and there will be an ongoing need to attract and retain ROMPs to initially establish services and in particular to drive service development and delivery for the life of the Linacs. MRI and Linac technologies mean it is necessary to perform a specialized workforce assessment for these devices, distinct from those employed for conventional Linacs and associated services. MRI-Linacs are complex, have a heightened risk profile compared to standard Linacs, and are unique in their treatment of patients. Accordingly, the workforce needs for MRI-Linacs are greater than for standard Linacs. To ensure safe and high-quality Radiation Oncology patient services are provided, it is recommended that staffing levels should be based on the 2021 ACPSEM Australian Radiation Workforce model and calculator using the MRI-Linac specific ROMP workforce modelling guidelines outlined in this paper. The ACPSEM workforce model and calculator are closely aligned with other Australian/New Zealand and international benchmarks. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13246-023-01253-4. Springer International Publishing 2023-04-11 2023 /pmc/articles/PMC10209343/ /pubmed/37041317 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13246-023-01253-4 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . |
spellingShingle | ACPSEM Position Paper Marsh, Linda Rykers, Kym Sobolewski, Matthew ACPSEM position paper on ROMP scope of practice and staffing levels for magnetic resonance linear accelerators |
title | ACPSEM position paper on ROMP scope of practice and staffing levels for magnetic resonance linear accelerators |
title_full | ACPSEM position paper on ROMP scope of practice and staffing levels for magnetic resonance linear accelerators |
title_fullStr | ACPSEM position paper on ROMP scope of practice and staffing levels for magnetic resonance linear accelerators |
title_full_unstemmed | ACPSEM position paper on ROMP scope of practice and staffing levels for magnetic resonance linear accelerators |
title_short | ACPSEM position paper on ROMP scope of practice and staffing levels for magnetic resonance linear accelerators |
title_sort | acpsem position paper on romp scope of practice and staffing levels for magnetic resonance linear accelerators |
topic | ACPSEM Position Paper |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10209343/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37041317 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13246-023-01253-4 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT marshlinda acpsempositionpaperonrompscopeofpracticeandstaffinglevelsformagneticresonancelinearaccelerators AT rykerskym acpsempositionpaperonrompscopeofpracticeandstaffinglevelsformagneticresonancelinearaccelerators AT sobolewskimatthew acpsempositionpaperonrompscopeofpracticeandstaffinglevelsformagneticresonancelinearaccelerators AT acpsempositionpaperonrompscopeofpracticeandstaffinglevelsformagneticresonancelinearaccelerators |