Does Peer Review of Radiation Plans Impact Clinical Care? A Systematic Review of the Literature

Brunskill, Kelsey; Bolt, R. Gabriel; Nguyen, Timothy; Louie, Alexander V.; Palma, David A.

doi:10.1016/j.jmir.2015.12.048

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Peer review of treatment plans, whether formal or informal, can directly impact the quality of care in radiation therapy. [13][14][15][16][17] A recent study by Matuszak et al 9 present the benefits of a pre-treatment peer review process by an independent physician, physicist and dosimetrist, which resulted in changes in nearly one-quarter of SBRT patients, potentially preventing suboptimal treatments. In another study, Lo et al 10 used the concept of peer review with a particular focus on structure contouring for SBRT plans.…”

Section: Lessons From Clinical Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Review of the clinical benefits and implementation of peer review of treatment plans in undergraduate medical dosimetry and radiation therapy training

Chamunyonga¹,

Crowe

Burbery³

2016

J Radiother Pract

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PurposePeer review of treatment plans has been used to improve planning consistency, decrease the need for replanning and improve quality of care through the safe delivery of high-quality radiotherapy plans. This narrative review summarises the clinical benefits and addresses the implementation of peer review of treatment plans in undergraduate medical dosimetry and radiation therapy training.DiscussionThere are encouraging results of peer review for advanced treatment planning techniques such as Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy techniques in clinical practice. Peer review can be used as a tool to improve students’ knowledge of organ-at-risk contouring, treatment plan critique and quality assurance. These desirable treatment planning skills can be easily transferred to clinical settings. Moreover, there are several potential pedagogical benefits such as improvement in student engagement, better communication skills and provision of synchronous and asynchronous feedback that can positively impact student success and future employment. However, there are several challenges in facilitating its implementation in university settings.ConclusionEmbedding skills in peer review of treatment plans at undergraduate teaching level can be a powerful tool to impart clinical treatment planning knowledge. This narrative review provides a basis on which to develop an exploratory study of structured peer review activities in a training environment.

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