A scoping review on the International State of Resident Brachytherapy Education

INTRODUCTION

Brachytherapy is a critical skill in the field of radiation oncology and remains an essential treatment modality in several disease sites. Multiple surveys conducted in the US suggest that a large proportion of residents do not feel comfortable performing several types of brachytherapy procedures upon graduation, highlighting a significant gap in training. To understand if similar issues exist outside the US, a scoping review was conducted to characterize the state of brachytherapy training internationally.

METHODS

An electronic search was conducted on PubMed on June 8, 2024 with a restriction on publication year prior to 2015 with the search terms “brachytherapy” and “resident.” Across the eight studies identified, a total of 1187 survey responses reported resident self-assessment of brachytherapy competence.

RESULTS

Surveys of residents from multiple continents report high variability in brachytherapy skill confidence with many techniques reporting less than 50% confidence. Surveys that also assessed barriers to brachytherapy training found that low caseload and lack of formal training or assessments were common issues.

CONCLUSIONS

These low rates of brachytherapy confidence across the globe are troubling and dedicated interventions, such as the establishment of competency-based assessments and effective simulation-based training, are needed to ensure that future radiation oncologists have the skills to deliver safe, high-quality patient care across the globe.