Abstract
The higher education landscape in South Africa has recently changed with the new National Qualifications Framework, leading to the introduction of four-year degrees in all four radiography disciplines. Additionally, there have been developments in the extension of roles in radiography, while the need for interdisciplinary practice has also been emphasised. The Professional Board for Radiography and Clinical Technology (PBRCT) of the Health Professions Council of South Africa is currently revising the scope of the profession which will now include extended roles. However, the extended role concept in radiation therapy has not received the attention similar to Diagnostic/Medical Imaging. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to provide concept clarification and key considerations for developing a postgraduate curricular framework for training radiation therapists to practise in the envisaged extended roles. For this narrative review, a Boolean search for advanced practice and role extension in radiation therapy was done on all databases (43) available on EbscoHost to source for peer-reviewed articles published between January 1950 and September 2020. A total of 17 articles met the inclusion criteria and were used to frame the discussion. Advanced practice emerged as the more suitable concept as it goes beyond an extension of tasks to include critical characteristics that are necessary to drive transformation in the local social, professional and educational arenas. It is envisaged that some of the key points discussed in this paper could assist the PBRCT in thinking about the implementation of the proposed extended roles for radiation therapists in South Africa.
Highlights
Radiography education in South Africa (SA) has evolved in the last few years with a focus to have all disciplines of radiography (Diagnostic/Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine Technology, Radiation Therapy [radiation therapists (RTs)], and Ultrasound) offered at undergraduate level
The search focused on Advanced practice (AP) and role extension (RE), but concepts of role development (RD) (2 articles) and role expansion (REx) (2 articles) were noted as they emerged in the literature reviewed
This article has explored the concepts of RE and AP as they relate to RT
Summary
Radiography education in South Africa (SA) has evolved in the last few years with a focus to have all disciplines of radiography (Diagnostic/Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine Technology, Radiation Therapy [RT], and Ultrasound) offered at undergraduate level. It was mainly medical imaging that was offered at the undergraduate level with the other disciplines available as post-basic qualifications. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends ‘task shifting’ as one of the strategies to tackle staff shortages in health (Harnett et al 2019). The core of this strategy is to enable healthcare professionals to work beyond their traditional roles (Eddy 2006). Several stakeholders have reported implementing this strategy in response to increasing cancer burden, RT staff shortages and long waiting times (Acharya et al 2013; Bolderston 2004; Coleman et al 2014; Eddy 2006; Harnett et al 2014, 2019; Monk et al 2013)
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