Resident-reported brachytherapy experience in ACGME-accredited radiation oncology training programs

The impact of trainee involvement on outcomes in low-dose-rate brachytherapy for prostate cancer

“…Furthermore, many residency programs do not perform LDR brachytherapy and residents are forced to go rotate at outside institutions to complete residency requirements. A recent analysis of radiation oncology resident procedure logs demonstrated a 25% decrease in the mean number of interstitial procedures completed from 2006-2007 to 2010-2011 [2]. Maintaining high-quality resident training in brachytherapy is vital in this era of health care reform.…”

“…Recent studies have demonstrated a decreasing trend in the utilization of brachytherapy likely due to the introduction of new technologies, changes in economic incentive and increasing use of active surveillance. [1] As a result, there has been a significant reduction in resident-reported brachytherapy experience during training [2]. …”

Attitude and Practice of Brachytherapy in India: A Study Based on the Survey Amongst Attendees of Annual Meeting of Indian Brachytherapy Society

“…In another study by Fumagalli et al [24], 82% of the residents felt that insufficient teaching has been imparted to them during residency and only 50% performed one brachytherapy treatment during residency. The interest of brachytherapy among residents in training is guided mainly by requirement of the accreditation council [25] as well as the benefit of knowledge of brachytherapy in staff recruitment [23]. Compton et al [25] found a decreasing trend in the mean number of brachytherapy procedures performed by residents (80.8 in 2006-2007 to 71.0 in 2010-2011) and also a decrease in the average number of interstitial procedures by 25%.…”

“…The interest of brachytherapy among residents in training is guided mainly by requirement of the accreditation council [25] as well as the benefit of knowledge of brachytherapy in staff recruitment [23]. Compton et al [25] found a decreasing trend in the mean number of brachytherapy procedures performed by residents (80.8 in 2006-2007 to 71.0 in 2010-2011) and also a decrease in the average number of interstitial procedures by 25%. The trend in decline of brachytherapy training experience should be an alert to the community of brachytherapy and avenues must be created to increase the interest as well as provide more opportunities for training.…”

Brachytherapy: Where Has It Gone?

“…13 Fifth, the volume of prostate brachytherapy procedures used to train radiation oncology residents is suboptimal. 2 Compton et al 14 reported that the average number of interstitial prostate procedures decreased by 25% over a 5-year period when assessing the resident case load from the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education resident case logs. And finally, for physicians with limited brachytherapy experience, the decision to offer brachytherapy may be negatively influenced by rigorous regulatory reporting requirements established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.…”