Academic Courses > DOS 512
DOS 512 - Simulation for Medical Dosimetrists
Course Description
This course covered the basics of patient positioning, patient immobilization, patient marking, simulation techniques including traditional simulation and CT simulation, contrast agents, and the utility of various imaging modalities including fluoroscopy, radiography, digitally reconstructed radiography (DRR), portal films, EPID imaging, and subtleties of CT imaging.
Assessment
Grading for this class was based on participation in two discussion sessions and on a final exam. The format was a little more high-stakes than usual, since we had no practice problems along the way or much in the way of guidance for what we needed to know on the final other than a list of chapters to read. In some ways, I suppose this was good preparation for the CMD exam, which is one giant high-sakes test.
Discussions
Week 1: [no post due to Thanksgiving holiday]
Week 2: Patient Markings During Simulation
Week 3: CT Contrast Agents
Week 2: Patient Markings During Simulation
Week 3: CT Contrast Agents
Reflections
At the conclusion of each course, students are asked to reflect on what they have learned about the material and about themselves. The reflection is guided by five questions:
The new knowledge and skills I gained during this course were...
I learned about the history of simulation, including the configuration and use of traditional simulators. I'm not sure if I will ever run across one in my future practice as a dosimetrist, but if I do, I will not be left wondering what it is and what it's used for. I gained much more insight into setup parameters that make patient positions more reproducible, and I learned what markings on the patient are useful for guiding setup into those positions.
The new knowledge and skills will benefit me by...
As I work with therapists in the future, I will have a more clear idea of what patient positions are reasonable to request, and what positions are easy to set up and maintain. Since accurate, reproducible, comfortable positioning is the first step in planning, it has to be done well. Much of the knowledge gained from this class, such as magnification factors, 2D contour generation, and 2D measurement of tumor depth is extremely relevant to the CMD exam, so I will be ready for these types of questions when I encounter them.
I struggle with...
All of my imaging experience has been in the 3D world so far. I can pick out bony structures on 2D imaging fairly well, but I still have to spend a lot more time working with radiography to get to a point where I can easily identify soft tissue features. I still have not had much experience with virtual simulation, since my role as a Junior Dosimetrist is usually confined to the early stages of planning such as registration and contouring.
I feel pretty good about...
I have spent quite a bit of time observing the CT simulation process at SCCA Proton Therapy, so I have had a chance to become familiar with CT-based simulation. I can many spot setup problems and I can evaluate CT imaging to see if the images are adequate for planning purposes before the patient gets off the table.
Other reflective thoughts...
I wish this class had had a bit more involvement other than the two discussion posts and final exam. I feel that weekly problem sets or some kind of group activity could have really helped to drill in the concepts over a longer period of time. I'm not sure how it could have been done in an online environment, but an exercise where we perform a patient simulation on mockups of both a traditional simulator and a CT simulator would have been very useful.
The new knowledge and skills I gained during this course were...
I learned about the history of simulation, including the configuration and use of traditional simulators. I'm not sure if I will ever run across one in my future practice as a dosimetrist, but if I do, I will not be left wondering what it is and what it's used for. I gained much more insight into setup parameters that make patient positions more reproducible, and I learned what markings on the patient are useful for guiding setup into those positions.
The new knowledge and skills will benefit me by...
As I work with therapists in the future, I will have a more clear idea of what patient positions are reasonable to request, and what positions are easy to set up and maintain. Since accurate, reproducible, comfortable positioning is the first step in planning, it has to be done well. Much of the knowledge gained from this class, such as magnification factors, 2D contour generation, and 2D measurement of tumor depth is extremely relevant to the CMD exam, so I will be ready for these types of questions when I encounter them.
I struggle with...
All of my imaging experience has been in the 3D world so far. I can pick out bony structures on 2D imaging fairly well, but I still have to spend a lot more time working with radiography to get to a point where I can easily identify soft tissue features. I still have not had much experience with virtual simulation, since my role as a Junior Dosimetrist is usually confined to the early stages of planning such as registration and contouring.
I feel pretty good about...
I have spent quite a bit of time observing the CT simulation process at SCCA Proton Therapy, so I have had a chance to become familiar with CT-based simulation. I can many spot setup problems and I can evaluate CT imaging to see if the images are adequate for planning purposes before the patient gets off the table.
Other reflective thoughts...
I wish this class had had a bit more involvement other than the two discussion posts and final exam. I feel that weekly problem sets or some kind of group activity could have really helped to drill in the concepts over a longer period of time. I'm not sure how it could have been done in an online environment, but an exercise where we perform a patient simulation on mockups of both a traditional simulator and a CT simulator would have been very useful.
Academic Courses > DOS 512
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Published December 14, 2014
First Semester, Pre-Internship |