Australian radiation therapy – Part two: Reflections of the past, the present, the future
- Radiation Oncology Department, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA (Australia)
- Curtin Health Innovative Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA (Australia)
- Radiation Oncology, Andrew Love Cancer Centre, Barwon Health, Geelong, Vic. (Australia)
Introduction: Documentation on the history of Australian radiotherapy is limited. This study provides radiation therapists' (RTs) perspectives of the people, workplace, and work practices in Australian radiotherapy centres from 1960 onwards. It provides a follow-up to our previous study: Australian radiation therapy: An overview – Part one, which outlines the history and development of radiotherapy from conception until present day. Methods: Four focus groups were conducted on separate occasions in 2010, one in South Australia and three in Victoria, Australia. Participants who worked in radiotherapy were purposively selected to ensure a range of experience, age, and years of work. Results: From a RT perspective, radiotherapy has evolved from a physically demanding ‘hands-on’ work environment, often with unpleasant sights and smells of disease, to a more technology-driven workplace. Conclusion: Understanding these changes and their subsequent effects on the role of Australian RTs will assist future directions in advanced role development.
- OSTI ID:
- 22402342
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences (Print), Vol. 61, Issue 1; Other Information: PMCID: PMC4175828; PMID: 26229636; OAI: oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4175828; Copyright (c) 2014 The Authors. Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences published by Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd on behalf of Australian Institute of Radiography and New Zealand Institute of Medical Radiation Technology.; This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2051-3895
- Country of Publication:
- Australia
- Language:
- English
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