Hindsight is always 20/20. What we know about this pandemic stretches well beyond face masks and toilet paper; it has deeply affected so many from lost loved ones to overworked hospital staff and patients missing their routine cancer screenings. Looking back, there is a lot we could change, but we all know you just can’t change the past. Fortunately, many dosimetrists are still able to care for their patients whether they are in the clinic or not.
The flexibility of being a dosimetrist has provided me the ability of taking my skills and using them to help patients anywhere with an internet connection. Many dosimetrists who were on-site moved into remote roles rather quickly, reducing the number of staff mingling in each radiation clinic. Some prefer it, some wish they could be back in the office, and many of us don’t have a choice in the matter.
This forced change upon our industry will prove many changes which will not revert. How many dosimetrists will continue to work from home? How will this change the role of a dosimetrist within the radiation oncology department?
The flexibility of being a dosimetrist has provided me the ability of taking my skills and using them to help patients anywhere with an internet connection. Many dosimetrists who were on-site moved into remote roles rather quickly, reducing the number of staff mingling in each radiation clinic. Some prefer it, some wish they could be back in the office, and many of us don’t have a choice in the matter.
This forced change upon our industry will prove many changes which will not revert. How many dosimetrists will continue to work from home? How will this change the role of a dosimetrist within the radiation oncology department?
In some clinics, dosimetrists stay in their office and pump out plans all day with little interaction with anyone outside of physics. In other facilities, dosimetrists are present at both sim and start, they run QA, have supervisory roles, and handle departmental management. Maybe what we should be asking ourselves and our profession as dosimetrists is “How can we continue to keep our value in a work from home environment?”.
My perspective working from home has been that I often miss discussions that don’t make it into email. For instance, I could miss hearing how a breath hold patient struggled at sim, so I should prioritize a fast treatment time over other metrics. As a dosimetrist, our job really is taking all variables and balancing them all from dose constraints to patient care after all.
To combat this, my priority working from home has been to continue to input myself into the clinic, routinely check in with therapy, physics and the physicians outside of what ‘needs’ done, be present by phone or video for departmental meetings, and occasionally stop by to show face and remind everyone you are still a part of the team. I feel it is very important as a dosimetrist to stay familiar with the needs of the clinic outside of waiting for targets and pushing plans. When we remove ourselves from the clinic and team, the patients begin to lose the necessary benefits they can gain from a dosimetrist’s input on their treatment plan.
So when we look back in a year or two (hopefully no longer than that), what changes will have held for dosimetrists and what will we revert back to?
Mark Littell, CMD CNMT