Treatment Planning in Radiation Oncology: A ’Learning-by-Doing Approach’

Abstract

AbstractA tutorial for treatment planning in radiation oncology was developed. The tutorial is aimed for medical physics students who have already gained theoretical knowledge in treatment planning but have no prior practical experience. The open-source University of Washington treatment planning system Prism was installed and used for a web-based tutorial. The tutorial guides the students through three different learning modules, designed to both learn the specific features of a modern treatment planning system but mainly to enhance their understanding of the treatment planning processes themselves. To monitor the learning outcomes each learning module contains a challenge and a quiz so students can check their progress independently. In summary, Prism lends itself well for educational purposes. The tutorial covers all main aspects of treatment planning. Its web-based layout allows independent learning of the students yet provides them with feedback. The tutorial in its current form is self-contained but still adjustable and expandable. The framework of the tutorial can be made available upon request to the authors.KeywordsEducation in Medical PhysicsPrism treatment planning systemTutorialDICOMopen-source software