Foley S, Paulo G, Vassileva J
Radiography & Diagnostic Imaging, School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy Department, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra ESTESC - Coimbra Health School, Coimbra, Portugal.
Radiography (Lond). 2022 Feb;28(1):48-54. doi: 10.1016/j.radi.2021.07.016. Epub 2021 Aug 14.
Education and training of radiographers is known to be diverse between countries and regions. Under an IAEA project, this work collected data on radiographer education for the Europe and Central Asia region with a particular focus on radiation protection gaps and potential actions.
Following piloting, an electronic questionnaire was distributed to all national counterparts for the IAEA Technial Coopearation (TC) Europe region (n = 33 countries) and nominated national representatives. Contacts were additionally invited to a virtual workshop to discuss and rank common problems in education and training of radiographers and to propose potential solutions.
Responses were received from 31 countries, including 14 from the European Union. Just over half of countries reported radiographer education being in higher education with 71% having program durations more than 3 years (range: 1 month-4 years). Programs included a spectrum of both clinical training and radiation protection hours with ten-fold variations noted across the region. Inclusion of core radiation protection topics within curricula varied similarly, as did radiographers' clinical involvement in both justification and optimisation between countries. Workshop participants identified five common training problems, namely education availability, lack of standardisation, radiation protection course quality, teamwork problems and lack of equipment.
Radiographer education in the IAEA Europe region is heterogeneous with substantial differences in duration and quality of training programs between countries, which likely impact on quality of patient care delivered. Common problems have been identified and potential solutions proposed to focus quality improvement initiatives.
Radiographer education and training is diverse throughout the IAEA TC Europe region, with likely impacts on radiation protection practices applied. Clinical involvement of radiographers in justification and optimisation differs, potentially limiting adherence to radiation protection principles.
众所周知，各国和各地区放射技师的教育和培训情况各不相同。在国际原子能机构（IAEA）的一个项目下，本研究收集了欧洲和中亚地区放射技师教育的数据，特别关注辐射防护方面的差距和潜在行动。
在进行试点之后，向国际原子能机构欧洲技术合作（TC）地区的所有国家对口单位（n = 33个国家）和指定的国家代表发放了电子调查问卷。此外，还邀请相关人员参加了一次虚拟研讨会，以讨论和排列放射技师教育和培训中的常见问题，并提出潜在的解决方案。
收到了31个国家的回复，其中包括14个欧盟国家的回复。略超过一半的国家报告称放射技师教育属于高等教育，71%的国家课程时长超过3年（范围：1个月至4年）。课程包括一系列临床培训和辐射防护课时，该地区的课时差异达10倍之多。课程中核心辐射防护主题的纳入情况差异同样较大，各国放射技师在正当性论证和优化方面的临床参与情况也是如此。研讨会参与者确定了五个常见的培训问题，即教育机会、缺乏标准化、辐射防护课程质量、团队合作问题和设备短缺。
国际原子能机构欧洲地区的放射技师教育参差不齐，各国培训课程的时长和质量存在很大差异，这可能会影响所提供的患者护理质量。已确定了常见问题，并提出了潜在的解决方案，以聚焦质量改进举措。
国际原子能机构欧洲技术合作地区的放射技师教育和培训各不相同，可能会对所采用的辐射防护实践产生影响。放射技师在正当性论证和优化方面的临床参与情况存在差异，这可能会限制对辐射防护原则的遵守。
