Course report | 19-23 October, Krakow, Poland
 

A physicist’s perspective

My name is Isabelle, and I am a particle physicist who has been working as an application specialist at RaySearch Laboratories AB in Stockholm, Sweden, for the last 18 months. During my physics studies in Lund, Sweden, I used to work part-time as a radiation therapist.

I chose to attend the ‘Advanced Skills in Modern Radiotherapy’ course to strengthen my clinical perspective. In my role as an application specialist, I deliver many courses and demonstrations for clinical staff, and I’m often asked questions that require a deeper understanding of the related clinical circumstances and workflows. I’m eager to deepen my knowledge in this area in order to address those questions more confidently and effectively.

For me, what is happening in the field right now and what challenges clinics face are the most interesting aspects of the work. Also, on the course, the opportunity to talk in the breaks to people who worked clinically was very valuable to gain new insights and discuss ideas.

The course improved my knowledge, and I was able to gather many insights and have many interesting discussions, not least with the teachers, who were highly skilled in their respective fields.

The course lived up to my expectations. I gained much detail from a clinical perspective, saw many different case studies and got to talk to many knowledgeable people.

The three important ‘takeaways’ for me from the course were:

1. An increased insight into online adaptive radiotherapy in clinics, the workflows around it and its challenges and benefits;
2. Updates on advances in radiotherapy in general; I consider myself much more up-to-date after the course on what is happening now in the field, and
3. How to implement new things in your clinic. This, for me, was eye-opening, as I got to understand the challenges that clinics face with the implementation and management of advanced treatment techniques in multidisciplinary environments.

I will certainly use some of the knowledge in my future training, especially in how I go through examples.

I believe that many involved in radiation therapy treatments should attend this course, especially but not only radiation therapists. Much knowledge can be gained from the course, ranging over many different topics, so there is something for everyone. One perhaps underestimated benefit is that attendees get to meet people from different clinics and discuss how the same problems are solved differently at different clinics. People from different backgrounds have the chance to brainstorm together and to exchange experiences.

Isabelle Svensson
Application specialist
RaySearch Laboratories AB
Stockholm, Sweden
Isabelle.svensson@raysearchlabs.com