Education for radiological protection in radiotherapy ESTRO recommendations for EU Euratom guidelines

The practice of radiation oncology (radiotherapy) encompasses the clinical care of patients as well as the technical aspects of radiotherapy. Benefits to patients accruing from radiotherapy depend upon the accurate delivery of high doses to the tumour with doses to normal tissues being kept to a minimum. In addition to these patient-centred aspects of radiation protection in radiotherapy, appropriate measures must also be taken to reduce the amount of radiation to staff and the general public to as low a level as is reasonably achievable. In order to achieve these aims, a broad basic training is required in all of the disciplines involved in the delivery of ionising radiation. ESTRO has recommendations for core curricula for the disciplines involved, but this annex lists the elements from these curricula which relate specifically to radiation protection. It is important to reiterate that the extent of training required will depend upon the existing levels of knowledge and training of different groups of professionals in physics, radiobiology etc., and this may vary from state to state specific training objectives for radiation protection in radiotherapy will cover the following subjects: Radiotherapy equipment, safety and accuracy, dosimetric and geometric quantities for accuracy in radiotherapy, radiobiology and radiation risks, radiation treatment planning for optimising delivery of radiation dose, optimal and safe use of radionuclides in radiotherapy, radiation hazards in radiotherapy facilities. (author)