Radiation Oncology Virtual Education Rotation (ROVER) 2.0 for Residents: Implementation and Outcomes

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed the integration of a virtual education curriculum to support radiation oncologists in training. We report outcomes from Radiation Oncology Virtual Education Rotation (ROVER) 2.0, a supplementary virtual educational curriculum created for radiation oncology residents globally. A prospective cohort of residents completed surveys before and after the live virtual webinar sessions (pre-and post-surveys, respectively). Live sessions were structured as complex gray-zone cases across various core disease sites. Resident demographics and responses were summarized using means, standard deviations, and proportions. Nine ROVER sessions were held from October 2020 to June 2021. A total of 1487 registered residents completed the pre-survey, of which 786 attended the live case discussion and 223 completed postsurveys. A total of 479 unique radiation oncology residents (of which 95, n = 19.8%, were international attendees) from 147 institutions (national, n = 81, 55.1%; international, n = 66, 44.9%) participated in the sessions. There was similar participation across post-graduate year (PGY) 2 through 5 (range n = 86 to n = 105). Of the 122 unique resident post-surveys, nearly all reported learning through the virtual structure as "very easy" or "easy" (97.5%, n = 119). A majority rated the ROVER 2.0 educational sessions to be "valuable or "very valuable" (99.2%, n = 121), and the panelists-attendee interaction as "appropriate" (97.5%, n = 119). Virtual live didactics aimed at radiation oncology residents are feasible. These results suggest that the adoption of the ROVER 2.0 curricula may help improve radiation oncology resident education.

Cancer Rehabilitation Veterans Affairs Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes Virtual Education Program

“…While many VA-ECHO programs were demonstrating steadily increased engagement over time 15 before 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significantly increased interest and participation in virtual education overall. [25][26][27][28] This program provides national access to cancer rehabilitation education, allowing for multidisciplinary VA attendance. This program demonstrates that virtual education plays a valuable role in cancer rehabilitation education, especially in the COVID-19 era where virtual education has risen to supplement in-person events.…”

“…While many VA-ECHO programs were demonstrating steadily increased engagement over time 15 before 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significantly increased interest and participation in virtual education overall 25–28 . This program provides national access to cancer rehabilitation education, allowing for multidisciplinary VA attendance.…”

Implementation of a Novel Chart Rounds Application to Facilitate Peer Review in a Virtual Academic Environment

“… 9 Since this time health care and radiation therapy departments have undergone significant changes, including institutional growth, increase in use of virtual environment following the COVID-19 pandemic, and changes in resident learning techniques. 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 Here, we discuss our institutional experience with chart rounds and the implementation of a new chart rounds application to adapt to modern radiation therapy departmental needs and multiple use scenarios.…”

Increasing pediatric radiation oncology capacity in sub-saharan Africa using technology: a pilot of a pediatric radiation oncology virtual training course

“…In a recent study assessing the effectiveness of online training for radiation oncologists, Hatcher et al documented the effectiveness of a telehealth brachytherapy training program in increasing the confidence of healthcare professionals in LMICs [15]. Sandhu et al (2022) also reported findings from a multi-institutional case-based radiation oncology virtual education rotation for residents; finding that the sessions significantly increased capacity to treat in majority of participants [16].…”