2016 AAPM Annual Meeting
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Session Title: The Quality Gap (Session 1 of the TG100 Certificate Course series)
Question 1: Radiation Therapy Protocol deviations often involve incorrect target volume delineation or dosing, akin to radiotherapy incidents which often involve improper delivery of radiation or improper radiation dosing. When patients with radiation protocol variations are compared to those without significant protocol variations, outcome is…
Reference:Ohri N, Shen X, Dicker AP, Doyle LA, Harrison AS, Showalter TN. Radiotherapy protocol deviations and clinical outcomes: a meta-analysis of cooperative group clinical trials. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2013 Mar 20;105(6):387-93. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djt001. Epub 2013 Mar 6. Review.
Choice A:Outcome is never affected.
Choice B:Outcome is affected only in the setting of head and neck cancer.
Choice C:Several trials show a link between poor quality radiation and decreased survival.
Choice D:Several trials show a link between poor quality radiation and improved survival.
Question 2: When using an effective incident learning system in your center, you can expect that certain measurements of safety culture will…
Reference:Kusano AS, Nyflot MJ, Zeng J, Sponseller PA, Ermoian R, Jordan L, Carlson J, Novak A, Kane G, Ford EC. Measurable improvement in patient safety culture: A departmental experience with incident learning. Pract Radiat Oncol. 2015 May-Jun;5(3):e229-37. doi: 10.1016/j.prro.2014.07.002. Epub 2014 Aug 28.
Choice A:Remain unchanged.
Choice B:Decrease over time.
Choice C:Increase as power distance increases.
Choice D:Show improvement in the proportion of staff members who believe that the department is openly discussing ways to improve safety, the sense that reports are being used for safety improvement, and the sense that changes are being evaluated for effectiveness.
Question 3: When measuring the ion recollection to determine Pion, which of the following statements is always true?
Reference:Tailor, R.C., Hanson, W.F. and Ibbott, G.S. (2003). “TG-51: Experience from 150 institutions, common errors, and helpful hints.” J of Appl Clin. Med. Phys. 4, 102-111.
Choice A:Pion is normally less than 1.000.
Choice B:Pion is constant with photon and electron energy.
Choice C:One must re-equilibrate the ion chamber when the bias is changed to record 3 non-trending readings.
Choice D:Pion depends on the ion chamber used.
Choice E:Pion is only measured for photon beams.
Question 4: Based on the TLD measured dose in the IROC Houston lung phantoms which of the following Heterogeneity correction algorithms calculate a dose that has the closest agreement with the measured dose?
Reference:Kry SF, Alvarez P, Molineu A, Amador C, Galvin J, Followill DS. Algorithms Used in Heterogeneous Dose Calculations Show Systematic Differences as Measured With the Radiological Physics Center's Anthropomorphic Thorax Phantom Used for RTOG Credentialing. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 85(1):e95-e100, 1/2013.
Choice A:AAA
Choice B:Monte Carlo
Choice C:Convolution superposition
Choice D:Pencil beam
Choice E:Clarkson
Question 5: Depending on the dosimeter used, the magnitude of the additional small field fluence correction, down to a 0.5 x 0.5 cm2 field size can be as much as:
Reference:Francescon et al. Medical Physics, Vol. 38, No. 12, December 2011.
Choice A:5%
Choice B:2%
Choice C:No correction needed
Choice D:8%
Choice E:13%
Question 6: The report,‘ Safety is No Accident; A Framework for Quality Radiation Oncology and Care.....
Reference:ASTRO Publication, 2012
Choice A:It addresses specific requirements of radiotherapy in terms of structure, personnel, and technical processes.
Choice B:It comes from well-run facilities with good processes operating harmoniously within their capabilities.
Choice C:It ensures a safe environment for the delivery of radiation therapy.
Choice D:All of the above.
Choice E:None of the above.
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