Digital skills of therapeutic radiographers/radiation therapists – Document analysis for a European educational curriculum

An investigation of digital skills of therapeutic radiographers/radiation therapists: A european survey of proficiency level and future educational needs

“…However, all the digital skills coded and presented in Table 11 differed from the skills already published in a previous review, and an opportunity arose for their inclusion in the published list of digital skills for TR/RTTs. 9 The reference, by the participants, to RT technologies and techniques that were not mentioned in the survey demonstrate the heterogeneity of knowledge and skills of TR/RTTs, conditioned by the variability of technology available 45 but also by the divergence in the training of these professionals. 46 This is reflected in the role development of the TR/RTTs' practice, where in some countries there is another level of practice -advanced practice (AP).…”

“…39,40 A theoretical analysis 41 was used with the aim of identifying digital skills from the open-ended questions and not listed in the closeended questions. The data collected was analysed individually and organised under the appropriate pre-existing themes as identified in previous research, 9 keeping in mind that new themes may also emerge during the data analysis process. Investigator triangulation was used to provide multiple observations and conclusions.…”

“…A survey was designed (Appendix A), based on the list of TR/ RTTs' digital skills from a previous literature analysis, 9 to identify which digital skills are being developed and what their level of proficiency is. Also, to evaluate the association between this level and the following factors: socio-demographic characteristics; educational background; professional status; and information and communication technology (ICT) skills.…”

“…The suggestions made were scanned for similarity and examples, marking similar intended meanings (e.g., "planning system database management" and "active directory management"). The participants' input resulted in additional digital skills coded into two previously identifies themes and subthemes, 9 and one new sub-theme was created (see Table 11).…”

“…In addition, the lack of a specific framework regarding the training needs of digital skills of TR/RTTs prevents their development in initial and lifelong training programmes. 2,7,8 Although a recent study presented a list of digital skills which should be included in the educational curriculum and continuing professional development (CPD) programmes for TR/RTTs (see some examples in Table 1), 9 it has not identified which skills were developed by TR/RTTs and what their proficiency level is. It was therefore considered relevant to assess not only the proficiency level of TR/RTTs in performance digital tasks, but also to identify possible factors influencing it.…”