The Quality of An Education?

RadOnc Solutions, LLC remains committed to providing the best service and accurate information to not only our customers, but to the radiation oncology community as a whole as well.  With this in mind, RadOnc Solutions is embarking on an endeavor to have the ARRT mandate better standards for radiation therapy schools.  Currently, according to the ARRT, students of programs may apply to take the licensing examination when "For the primary pathway to certification, eligibility requires the successful completion of the respective discipline´s formal educational program that is accredited by a mechanism acceptable to ARRT", among a very long list of other requirements.  However, the ARRT currently allows many different organizations to accredit the respective radiation therapy schools and in the interest of maintaining quality, it the belief of RadOnc Solutions that this is best accomplished through a single accreditation mechanism.  To be clear, this is not an attack on the ARRT or its practices.  Instead, it is a call to action that reform in the process can lead to better practices and standards, cost containment, and the future employability of students in the radiation oncology field.

The quality of the schooling is one of the most important aspects in the task of preparing individuals for this very dynamic and challenging field.  Currently, one school offers an online radiation therapy program.  This school is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The program is premised on the model that students can gain all of the clinical experience at centers close to home and learn the didactic portion online with trips to be physically in the classroom one or twice per semester.  This in itself is a fantastic premise.  More individuals can be brought into the field with the convenience of remaining close to where they currently reside.  The benefits of this are obvious, especially in areas in which a radiation therapy school is not close by and are probably already short on licensed therapists in the local hospitals and physician practices.  However, these types of programs must be held to at least the same standard as typical radiation therapy schools.  In fact, to ensure a top quality therapist, the standards should be higher as there is certainly a fair amount of knowledge that can be gained by individuals who physically travel to class and interact with an instructor on a regular basis.  The school mentioned above is accredited by the the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges.  I have had personal experience in both working with therapists that have graduated this program and have had experience with training students from this program.  In some instances, the therapists have been above average and in some they have been downright abysmal with only a basic knowledge of intricate nature of the field.  However, this does not mean that this is the fault of the school in question or even the program specifically.  It is entirely possible these same therapists would have passed a traditional on-campus program.  However, it has been my experience in the training of these students that as a Clinical Coordinator, several things have arisen that seriously concerned me in taking part as a mentor in this process.  For instance, never once did the school have a representative come to our clinic to check not only the status of the student clinically, but to check the quality of our treatment program overall.  Instead, it was simply assumed that the student was progressing and gaining knowledge, and even further it was assumed that our clinic was capable of providing an excellent clinical experience for the student in which the student is able to learn both basic and advanced techniques within the field.  Furthermore, there were other students who were not in our clinic but in the local area who were allowed to be considered as having "passed" the program and sit for the registry exam without having fully finished the program (the student graduated 6 months later).  The quality of the education is dependant on the school, staff, and accrediting facility.  I myself have partaken in online learning from an excellent organization and see the benefits such a properly structured program can provide.

Again, it is recognized that every program is different but if the ARRT were to mandate a single accrediting agency, such as the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology, better standards and foundations could be formulated to ensure quality standards are being met.  Furthermore, RadOnc Solutions takes the position that the ARRT should takes this logic one step further and regulate not only the quality/accreditation of radiation therapy programs, but should also regulate how many students may be admitted to programs annually.  Those who have been in the field for enough time know of the cyclical nature of the field and there really is no need for this to occur.  For those unaware, the field of radiation therapy seems to have an approximate seven to ten year feast and then famine cycle.  It starts with the market for new therapists being flooded with new graduates, then the schools slowly begin to shut down.  Over the course of the next couple of years, the field experiences attrition due to various reasons and the market begins to open up, often to the point that organizations cannot fully staff their departments because of a lack of licensed personnel.  This would be the feast portion of the cycle.  Then, recognizing an urgent need for more therapists, schools suddenly open their doors again and begin producing new grads again, starting the cycle over.  With regulation, the ARRT would be able to ascertain on an annual or biannual basis the geographic needs of locations and allow student enrollment appropriately.  This would help departments to be able to plan for coverage and remain staffed appropriately, wage levels would not fluctuate as much, and a steady stream of available jobs would be assured.  Consider this:  it is without a doubt that radiation therapy is currently in a famine phase of the cycle.  For any given job opening, hundreds or even thousands of applicants apply for a single job, yet the school mentioned above graduated over 40 students last semester.  Many of those students have now completed a very difficult educational program and they now cannot put their hard gained skill set to use.  With regulation, schools would be better prepared to deal with the volume needed to appropriately staff the field and could provide consistent educational quality to their students.  In addition, students would have a better chance of being assured of finding a position and putting their skills to use.

RadOnc Solutions will be emailing you a survey in the coming weeks to ascertain your interest in joining in this endeavor.  With enough voices, we can raise this issue formally with the ARRT and work hand in hand with the ARRT to fix some of these issues, ensuring optimum quality all around.

Brandon Lausser, MS, RTT