Australasian Physical & Engineering Sciences in Medicine Volume 30 Number 3, 2007 226 TECHNICAL REPORT Continuing professional development needs of Australian Radiation Oncology Medical Physicists – an analysis of applications for CPD funding* A. Perkins and T. Kron Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia Abstract In November 2004, the Australian federal government allocated $775,000 to individual Australian radiation oncology medical physicists (ROMPs) to access continuing professional development (CPD) activities. The funding was administered by the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM). In order to receive funding, individuals had to submit an application to ACPSEM, which assessed each application and distributed funds to successful applicants. 248 separate applications were received from 143 individuals in two rounds of applications. Information from the applications was collated and analysed, with the aim of identifying patterns that will be of use in future planning for CPD. This paper presents a summary of the information extracted from the analysis. Key words continuing professional development Introduction A major review of radiation oncology services in Australia, the Baume Report 1 , identified continuing professional development (CPD) for staff working in radiation oncology as a priority area for government attention. Lack of opportunity to participate in CPD was noted as one of the factors contributing to poor staff retention amongst radiation therapists (RTs) and radiation oncology medical physicists (ROMPs) * . As a result of this finding, the Australian Federal Government approved funding for a number of Radiation Oncology Workforce Initiatives in 2004, including $A 5.53 million to maintain and upgrade the skills of radiation therapists and medical physicists. The package provided funding to radiation oncology facilities, part of which was used to run multi-disciplinary training sessions on intensity modulated radiotherapy and Monte Carlo dose calculation in 2005-2006. These courses were attended by more than 100 RTs and ROMPs with *Aspects of this work were presented at EPSM 2006, the 30th annual conference on Engineering and Physical Sciences in Medicine, Noosaville, Queensland, 2006 Corresponding author: Anne Perkins, Bendigo Radiotherapy Centre, PO Box 126, Bendigo VIC 3552, Australia Tel: (03) 5454 9333, Fax: (03) 5454 9289 Email: anne.perkins@petermac.org Received: 19 July 2007; Accepted: 14 August 2007 Copyright © 2007 ACPSEM feedback being overwhelmingly positive. As well as the facilities funding, money was allocated for individual radiation therapists and ROMPs to pursue CPD activities. The ROMP component of the individual funding, $A 775,000, was administered by the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM), under an agreement with the Australian government’s Department of Health and Ageing (DHA), while the radiation therapists’ component was administered by the Australasian Institute of Radiography (AIR). Eligibility criteria for funding were developed by the DHA, in consultation with ACPSEM and the AIR – refer to the Appendix for details. ACPSEM developed a template for assessing ROMP applications and appointed a three- person team to perform this task. The team comprised a representative from the ACPSEM office, an experienced ROMP and a consumer representative. Two rounds of funding were scheduled in May and October 2005, with a further third round introduced in June 2006 to allow unclaimed funds to be allocated. As a result of this process, ACPSEM received applications from 143 ROMPs requesting CPD funding. As the funding guidelines imposed minimal restrictions on the types of activities that could be funded (refer to Appendix), this provided an unique opportunity to learn what ROMPs saw as their own CPD needs, and to estimate the cost of providing for them. Such information gives a valuable * For the purpose of this article, the term “ROMP” includes all medical physicists employed in radiation oncology departments, regardless of their level of experience or accreditation status, including registrars and trainees.