A new graduate education program in radiation therapy

PurposeThe evaluation of the Radiation Oncology Network's (RON) in house professional development year (PDY) support program was implemented to determine the appropriate teaching, learning and transfer of learning strategies that assist the newly practicing radiation therapists' transition into the busy working environment. As the AIR program saw little clinical support offered to participating new graduates and thus a need for further educational support was felt.The RON support program was initially introduced as the clinical education support component of the NSW PDY program that was introduced in 1995 by the Australian Institute of Radiography.MethodFollowing the facilitation of the RON PDY program over a twelve month period, qualitative feedback was obtained using a focus group consisting of new graduates from the program. Two moderators facilitated the focus group: one moderator facilitated the discussion while the second moderator transcribed it. The graduate practitioners were asked a number of questions related to the teaching and learning strategies employed by the program as well as the structure of the program.Results/discussionThe responses were analysed into the following themes: teaching and learning strategies, transfer of learning, facilitation and future learning needs. Overall the graduate practitioners found the program nurtured their skill, knowledge and attitudes appropriately at such a critical stage in their career.