By Lorrie LeGrand
This blog post is adapted from the article “The Radiation Oncology Specialist Role: A Growth Opportunity for Radiation Therapists” published in Radiation Oncology News for Administrators Volume 34 Number 5.
The Miami Cancer Institute’s growing patient volume prompted the creation of the new radiation oncology clinical specialist (“clinical specialist”) position.
We created the clinical specialist role to oversee onboarding of new staff, manage RT students and create education opportunities for RTs. The clinical specialist makes sure RT students complete their competencies and liaises with their academic programs about any issues that may need to be addressed. Another area of oversight is ensuring that the cancer institute is following the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) standards, has accurate documentation and is adhering to departmental processes—so that we are operating safely and are always accreditation ready. The clinical specialist also serves in an advisory role for the department leadership and is part of our performance improvement team.
Our first hire had a vision and ideas, and quickly made the role her own. Our staff embraced her presence immediately. As one of her first tasks, she reviewed all of our facility’s required onboarding and training modules, as well as our internal radiation oncology–specific training packets. She spent the first 2–3 months developing the onboarding program and the RT students’ rotations. She tapped into our nurse educator’s expertise to help create a compendium of onboarding, new process and equipment, and ongoing competencies for the RTs. Then she transitioned to being the clinic to walk through new procedures and workflows with staff. She also reminded RTs about their upcoming license expirations and ensured they were up-to-date with their continuing education.
The clinical specialist role has become critical in our day-to-day functioning and to RT students’ clinical rotations. She has outlined how many RT students we can have in rotation each day. Having the clinical specialist liaise with the three academic programs we’re affiliated with has made it easier to bring students on site, evaluate them while they are in the clinic, and recruit many new grads.
We’ve explored other responsibilities the clinical specialist could undertake, but we’ve determined there’s no bandwidth to take on any additional projects. We’ve considered hiring at least one other part-time person to assist and grow the position. A part-time person might split their time between being a clinical specialist and an RT on the floor, which would enable them to observe procedures and workflows in real-time in the clinic and then suggest process improvements.
Our first clinical specialist transitioned to become a chief therapist. We’ve now onboarded the second clinical specialist, who’s also an internal hire. We look forward to seeing what she does in the position.
I can envision evolving the clinical specialist role into an advanced practice radiation therapist (APRT) because education, the primary focus of this position, is one of the pillars of the APRT, a role that exists in Europe, Canada and Australia. The ASRT is advocating for the APRT in the U.S.
Through our experience with the clinical specialist position, we’ve learned that choosing the right fit may be more significant than the role itself. We’ve learned that having a dedicated clinical specialist offers many advantages, and any cancer center, regardless of its size, could benefit. Even having a half-time rather than a full-time clinical specialist can ensure you have a meaningful education program for staff and students.
Although there’s no billing associated with the clinical specialist, several intangibles provide significant return on investment (ROI):
The clinical specialist position is a great opportunity for individuals who are passionate about education. It also helps grow your team and your practice and keeps you at the forefront of what’s happening in radiation oncology.
Lorrie LeGrand is the radiation oncology operations director of Photon and Proton at the Miami Cancer Institute.
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