SAN ANTONIO, October 23, 2022 — Meeting with a medical physicist who can explain how radiation therapy is planned and delivered reduces patient anxiety and increases patient satisfaction throughout the treatment process, according to a new study published today in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics. Findings of the randomized, prospective phase III clinical trial also will be presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting.
"This study is a wake-up call for medical physicists that there are new ways we can add value to patient care," said Todd F. Atwood, PhD, lead author of the study and an associate professor and Senior Associate Division Director of Transformational Clinical Physics at the University of California, San Diego. "It illustrates how care teams can partner more effectively with patients as they make their treatment decisions and navigate the radiation therapy process."
Medical physicists work with radiation oncologists to ensure complex treatment plans are properly tailored to each patient. They also develop and direct quality control programs to make sure treatments are delivered safely, including performing safety tests on the equipment used in a patient's treatment.
