Introduction:
Medical dosimetrists use sophisticated treatment planning software to design treatment plans for patients undergoing radiation therapy for cancer. To do their job, they need to understand the logistics and limitations of acquiring images and delivering the radiation therapy plans to cancer patients using patient simulation machines and linear accelerators. The Medical Dosimetry Curriculum approved by the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists requires a clinical education, which includes students’ observations of patient simulations and treatments in the radiation oncology department.
COVID-19 caused limitations in students’ access to the resources in the clinic. Medical dosimetry educators had to utilize innovative approaches to provide an uninterrupted education to their students. Many schools started offering their didactic courses online and provided remote access to treatment planning software for virtual clinical education in medical dosimetry. Although medical dosimetry students could still complete their treatment planning education through remote access and virtual environments, the clinical experience involving patient simulation and treatment could not be fully replicated online. Post COVID-19, students do come to campus to observe patient simulations and treatments, but due to institutional procedures there can be limited opportunities for students to have direct patient interaction.

Project Description:
The medical dosimetry program at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center sought financial resources in the form of a grant to implement a novel project using the professional services of the Institutional Medical Graphics and Photography department to record radiation oncology simulation and treatment procedures. The purpose of this project was to create a library of simulation and treatment techniques for various disease sites to be viewed by medical dosimetry students completing clinical rotations.

Outcomes:
A $50,000 grant was awarded to the medical dosimetry program to construct a simulation and treatment video library. A list of needed simulation and treatment videos was put together defining what treatment sites would be simulated and treated in the video archives.

Conclusions:
Now that the video library is populated, the recordings are shown to medical dosimetry students before they come on site for patient observations. The video library is used throughout the medical dosimetry curriculum to reinforce learning of didactic concepts. These unique videos can be used in situations when students’ attendance in clinic is limited or when a rare form of treatment is not available in the clinic where the student is assigned. The videos could be marketed to other radiation oncology programs, creating a potential revenue source. The radiation therapy programs can also use these recordings during the education of their students and even in their new employee orientation.

Keywords: Radiation oncology, medical dosimetry, higher education, COVID-19, patient radiation treatment, patient simulation videos, digital library.