Clinical perceptions of radiation therapy undergraduate competency standards

• Published in: Journal of medical radiation sciences Vol. 61; no. 4; pp. 241 - 245
• Main Authors: Carmichael, Mary‐Ann, Bridge, Pete
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.12.2014; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Assessment; clinical education; Feedback; Nursing education; Original; Perceptions; Questionnaires; Radiation therapy; Skills; stakeholder; Students; Studies; Teachers; undergraduate; Queensland Australia; clinical education; stakeholder; undergraduate; Assessment; radiation therapy
• ISSN: 2051-3895; 2051-3909
• DOI: 10.1002/jmrs.82

Introduction The multifactorial nature of clinical skills development makes assessment of undergraduate radiation therapist competence level by clinical mentors challenging. A recent overhaul of the clinical assessment strategy at Queensland University of Technology has moved away from the high‐stakes Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to encompass a more continuous measure of competence. This quantitative study aimed to gather stakeholder evidence to inform development of standards by which to measure student competence for a range of levels of progression. Methods A simple anonymous questionnaire was distributed to all Queensland radiation therapists. The tool asked respondents to assign different levels of competency with a range of clinical tasks to different levels of student. All data were anonymous and was combined for analysis using Microsoft Excel. Results Feedback indicated good agreement with tasks that specified the amount of direction required and this has been incorporated into the new clinical achievements record that the students need to have signed off. Additional puzzling findings suggested higher expectations with planning tasks than with treatment‐based tasks. Conclusion The findings suggest that the amount of direction required by students is a valid indicator of their level and has been adopted into the clinical assessment scheme. Further work will build on this to further define standards of competency for undergraduates. Streamlining clinical assessment strategy to incorporate the amount of direction required by students.