Treatment Planning System Software Reflective Essay

handling Planning governing body Software Reflective EssayImproving mavins cultivation and performance could be considered to be a meta-skill, that is the skill of erudition how to memorize. (The give University, 2012)Clinical skills chosenThe clinical skill that was chosen is acquire how to habit Varian Medical occult Treatment Planning System packet program and necessitateting fri dyingship on how to political program a intervention for the different tincers. Eclipse is a comprehensive intervention computer programmening system that simplifies modern radioactivity therapy inventning for dosimetrists, physicists, and physicians to efficiently create, select, and verify the best interposition visualizes for their affected roles while ensuring spunky standard of care and effective protocols (Varian Medical Systems, 2014). This skill was chosen because it is interference related and is fit to give me a deeper understanding on patient ofs give-and-take. Fur thermore, the resources were requireily avail able-bodied in the segment for selective information purposes. shape of acquirement this skillThe cognitive process of learning this skill was broken round into two components mastering the use of Eclipse software efficiently and gaining association on treatment be after. The intention of breaking goals down (University of Kent Careers and Employability Service, n.d.) into two components is so that I mickle tackle them one step at a time. Each component was further evaluated based on a three-stage role model of developing a strategy, monitoring progress and evaluating performance (Figure A), which thunder mug be used to develop and improve skills and learning in general (The unaffixed University, 2012).Strategy first component of learning processFirstly, the strategy was to sop up an action curriculum and time checklist of what I should be doing each calendar week and what I should achieve at the end of each week. An acti on plan is a review of ones current capabilities and goals over an across-the-board period of time (The Open University, 2012). It is useful as it provides a incorporate plan linking the objectives of the learning process together and setting targets for achieving goals. There is a time checklist/ order of business plan created on a weekly founding at the end of every journal entry to time lag me on track and ensure that the objectives for the week bewilder been met. There was a swop in the schedule plan in week 1 as compared to the schedule plan in the action plan because I make in the first week that one week was insufficient and I needed more time to learn the software.A nonher strategy was to give away the learning process into two components. Getting to know the user user interface and all the functions of Eclipse treatment planning system first would enkindle my learning in treatment planning in the later part. Treatment planning requires both knowledge on treatment planning and skills on using the Eclipse treatment planning system. Thus, the first component of my learning journey was to get myself familiarise with Eclipse treatment planning softwares user interface and its functions. This took me a couple of weeks instead of one week that was originally planned in the action plan. I was able to learn a lot both on my own by referencing the user manual and alike with the help of the of age(p) radiation healers during the 8-hour learning session per week. As I learn, I jotted down notes in the note book of account. Note-taking was reformative as I was able to monitor my learning progress to keep me on track on the things that I wee-wee covered and adopt not.In order to evaluate my performance so far, a indite sagacity was carried out with the help of the senior radiation healers at the end of week 2. The results from the judicial decision would determine my next step, which was to either continue learning the softwares user interface o r to give the axe on to the second component of my learning journey to learn how to plan a treatment. I chose a written assessment to evaluate my performance because it earmarks me to chance upon my results visually in terms of scores. Scoring 92% for the written assessment on the softwares user interface gave me confidence to move to on to the second component of the learning process.Second component of learning processI passed the assessment and moved to learning how to plan a treatment for rectal cancer. For this component, I required the senior radiation therapist to guide me and share her knowledge. It was an observational and vocal learning for the first a couple of(prenominal) hours after which I was left on my own with the hospitals protocol booklist to try treatment planning on my own. The overload of information and knowledge caused me to miss out on quite a do of things in treatment planning. As such, it occurred to me that I would need a checklist. In my notebook, there were 2 types of lists one of which is a step-by-step list for a treatment plan based on what the senior radiation therapist taught me and the other, is a checklist that the senior radiation therapists check against after every effect of a treatment plan. The advantages of having a checklist are that it focuses my mind on outstanding objectives, orders my thoughts, making me less likely to forget plastered details, monitors my progress and prevents me from side-tracking from my objectives.I managed to complete learning the treatment planning for rectal cancer a week earlier than planned. This caused a change in my schedule plan where the re master(prenominal)ing planned weeks were brought forward a week. During this process, I should have read up textbooks for information instead of relying solely on the protocol book and the knowledge provided by the senior radiation therapist. I could have excessively used the Millers pyramid (Figure B) to monitor my performance on a pers onal level. Based on the Millers pyramid, I am at the Shows level as I am able to demonstrate the skill of planning a treatment plan for rectal tumours. I have yet to reach Does because I am distillery not efficient in treatment planning as I do still make mistakes such as over-shielding in the treatment plan for brain tumour.For each treatment plan, a competency-based assessment and verbal assessment were carried out to evaluate my performance. Firstly, I had to design a suited treatment plan using Eclipse treatment planning software for a particular case that was selected by the senior radiation therapist. aft(prenominal) which, I had to explain and convince her that my treatment plan has met the requirements and was suitable for the patients condition. She used a competency-based assessment checklist (Figure C) to evaluate my performance.A competency-based assessment is a collection of evidence to demonstrate that a learner can perform a task according to specific standards (S ingapore Workforce stupefying Agency Quality presumption Division, 2012). The assessment outcome will allow the assessor to make judgment with respect to the competence or incompetence (Singapore Workforce Development Agency Quality Assurance Division, 2012). Such regularity of assessment has been used for many years by the planning department to assess training staff on treatment planning where they have to apply their knowledge in designing a treatment plan and explaining the rationale as salutary as suitability for the particular patient in accordance to the hospitals protocol and patients benefit. This is good as it involves an assessment of a combination of treatment planning knowledge, process skills and transferable skills (Singapore Workforce Development Agency Quality Assurance Division, 2012). Apart from competency-based assessment, I as well chose verbal assessment for this component because it allowed me to knit feedback directly from my senior radiation therap ist on ways that she thinks could have been better and on how to improve my treatment plans. Learning from my mistakes allows me to learn and grow as I will avoid making similar mistakes in the future.Type of learnerI learned faster with the help of the senior radiation therapist. At the scrawl of each session, the senior radiation therapist will show and explain to me regarding treatment planning. After which, I was habituated hands-on opportunities to enhance my learning. Among the learning styles (Figure D), I learned better by visual, verbal and logical styles where the senior radiation therapist showed and explained to me the different components of treatment planning. I impression that explanations make better sense to me rather than but verbal instructions. As such, I found myself asking more to get a deeper understanding of the interface and usage of the software as well as knowledge in treatment planning. After each countersign with the senior radiation therapist, I p refer to work alone to put forward all the information and try out the treatment planning on my own. Therefore, solitary learning style (Figure D) was more suitable for me rather than social, too known as group discussion.Self-reflection using Gibbs Reflective illustration (Figure E)Description feelingsI was able to learn new skills and knowledge from the seniors. passim this learning process, I learned how to develop my own learning goals, localise my own learning styles and be responsible for my own learning. At the start of the process, I struggled a little bit as the amount of knowledge and things to learn was too overwhelming especially since I am not IT-savvy. However, the hands-on practices helped me build up my confidence each week. I feel that this newly learnt skill and knowledge are useful as it can be applied when I carry out the daily treatments and also when I am doing the new treatment card check. The knowledge can also be shared with my juniors and students on attachment.Evaluation analysisThe main challenge during the learning process was time. I only had one sidereal day (8 hours) every week to go to the treatment planning department. There was no fixed schedule plan as certain skill or knowledge required more time to learn. The changes in my schedule plan were made as more time was needed than expected to learn the software at the start and also due to the lack of workforce in the department which denied me of learning opportunities. However, I did managed to complete learning the treatment plan for rectal cancer a week earlier. As such, the schedule plan will always be adjusted based on my needs and capabilities each week. Despite this, it is crucial for me to keep to a certain timeframe as delaying a learning objective for too long would flirt with that the whole learning process will be completed at a later period. Given more time, I would like to be given a chance to create my own checklist on treatment planning and refer to mo re references from the textbooks instead of relying on the hospitals protocol and knowledge shared by the seniors.Conclusion action planIf I was given another opportunity, I would repeat the same process with similar action plan but with a more possible set of timeline based on my learning speed and capabilities. I would also like to develop my note-taking skills and the method of evidencing my skills.1