Evolution and Evaluation of a Structured Applied Physics Course for Radiation Oncology and Radiation Physics Trainees

We sought to supplement medical physics textbook knowledge and clinical learning with case-based discussions. To our knowledge, this is the first report on a structured combined applied physics curriculum for radiation oncology (RO) and medical physics (MP) trainees. We reviewed our yearly applied physics course given from the years 2016-2021 inclusive. The number of applied physics trainees ranged from 7 to 14 per year (2-9 RO and 3-6 MP residents per year). Each session was taught by a pair of (RO and MP) faculty members. Twenty-nine case-based sessions were given yearly (2016 to 2019). Because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the course was shortened to 8 case-based sessions in 2020 and 2021. For the years 2016-2021, the mean and median teaching evaluation scores were 4.65 and 5, respectively (range 2-5), where 1 represents worse teaching quality and 5, the best teaching quality. For the year 2021, 2 questions relating to the video virtual format (implemented due to the covid-19 pandemic), revealed consistent high scores with the mean and median responses of 4.14 and 5, respectively (range 1-5). The results from the teaching evaluation scores indicate that the trainees highly valued the teaching sessions and teachers. Our experience indicates that a case-based applied physics course was delivered successfully with continued high teaching evaluation scores. A video virtual platform for an applied physics course could be useful, especially for small programs without a structured applied physics curriculum.