ISRRT_COVID-19_book

level therapist. The treatment planning system was populated with a variety of anatomical
disease sites for students to plan, including head and neck, gastrointestinal, breast,
genitourinary, CNS and lung cases to plan. Previously, students would schedule sessions to
collaborate with their peers while creating plans in the treatment planning classroom. This
collaboration fostered teamwork and communication skills as they worked in a similar fashion
as therapists in a dosimetry department. Each student received a case scenario with most
treatment volume contours completed. They would create organs at risk (OAR) contours and
design the appropriate beam geometry to complete an optimized plan. Using clinically based
protocols each student could compare their plans to an acceptable one.
Students then met individually with the faculty on a weekly basis, in the virtual environment,
to present their plan and discuss rationale for their decision-making process. The Plan reviews
assessed the student’s competence in dosimetry. Plans were optimized to satisfy clinical
protocols while integrating knowledge from each of the courses across the program. Students
had an opportunity to share strengths and challenges encountered during the planning
process, and to receive faculty guidance. The assessment was based on the entry-to-practice
benchmark since the program faculty were signing off on dosimetry competencies from the
national competency profile.
The students and faculty were no longer able to meet in the treatment planning classroom.
The faculty searched for a solution where the students could still create optimized plans,
participate in plan reviews, and demonstrate competencies. The program was able to
accommodate remote access to the treatment planning system for all students to enable
them to work on their weekly plan activity. There were many technical challenges as part of
this process including students’ technical computer requirements being compatible with the
treatment planning software. Michener’s information management team and program
faculty collaborated to ensure minimum impact to the students. In addition, we created an
online centralized collaboration forum to allow students to work together. Blackboard
Collaborate was the platform of choice for virtual interactions and allowed us to create
separate rooms for the student presentations at plan review. In the private room, the student
shared their treatment planning screen during the discussion and faculty used Socratic
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