Newswatch: April 2006

Good news, bad news for radiological education classes

Despite new announcements of interest and funding for radiologic science programs, classroom space remains limited, according to several new announcements by the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO of Fairfax, Va), the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT of Albuquerque, NM), and Research Systems Inc (RSI of Boulder, Colo).

ASTRO has awarded $32,800 in grants to 10 institutions to help support radiation therapist training programs, and RSI has announced its continued support of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Chester F. Carlton Center of Imaging Science with the contribution of IDL and ENVI software licenses at no cost to RIT. Such good news coincides with a new study by the ASRT that reports an increase in student interest for the programs, but a lack of facilities and faculty.

First, ASTRO will provide grants to accredited radiation therapy technology training programs, with additional funds to help bolster enrollment and defray the cost of educational materials and distance-based learning initiatives.

"This program is a great way for ASTRO to ensure that our members have the talented staff they need to treat the cancer patients we all work so hard to cure," said John Krest , MD, PhD, chair of ASTRO's workforce committee and a radiation oncologist at Arizona Oncology Services and St Joseph's Hospital (Phoenix). "The field of radiation oncology has experienced a workforce shortage in recent years, and ASTRO has attempted to stem that by offering many funding opportunities each year, including this grant."

Next, RSI's support of RIT's program—where students can obtain undergraduate-, master's-, and PhD-level degrees from the imaging science program—has been ongoing since 2002. "RSI is proud to offer students the opportunity to use our software to learn how geospatial imagery is used in an array of applied research situations as well as commercial applications," said Jim Kelley , RSI's VP of North American sales and global services. "Our support of the RIT imaging science program is a way to ensure that students with a high level of academic excellence are pursuing careers in geospatial disciplines."

However, the ASRT report notes that the uneven distribution of interest and facilities/faculty has led to almost 32,000 qualified students being denied enrollment in 2005, according to the society. The study reports that the number of first-year radiography and radiation therapy students has increased by approximately 5.1% and 9%, respectively. Yet estimated entering-class enrollment in nuclear medicine programs has declined by one student from 2004 to 2005. The total overall increase is positive; however, the report demonstrates a continuation of the slowdown from the double-digit enrollment increases in radiography, nuclear medicine, and radiation therapy programs in 2002 and 2003.

Sal Martino , ASRT chief academic officer, said that if the current trend continues, there will be a shortage of radiographers to meet government-projected demand through 2012. "The shortage of classroom space in the radiologic science programs occurs at a pivotal time when an increasing number of older patients are in need of healthcare, and medical imaging is playing a more important role in patients' diagnosis and treatment," he said.

According to the study, 76.7% of program directors reported full enrollment in fall 2005. Programs at capacity reported turning away approximately 31,800 students. Radiologic science programs not at capacity reported only 1,419 positions for prospective students.

The number of qualified applicants denied admission into educational programs is likely to remain high because less than 20% of program directors in radiography, radiation therapy, and nuclear medicine say they have future plans to increase enrollment, the study reports.

The main factor that limited student enrollment numbers was a lack of clinical positions available for radiologic technology students. A combination of too few clinical sites and the number of medical professionals staffing clinical sites contributed to this factor, according to the ASRT study.

"Simply increasing the number of clinical sites sounds like a quick-fix solution," Martino said. "However, there are many obstacles in the clinical setting, including the understaffing at most radiology departments. Also, funding issues at colleges and universities are inhibiting program growth as well as faculty recruitment issues."

The entire survey is available on the ASRT Web site: www.asrt.org/content/RTs/SurveyResults/ProgramEnrollment/EnrollmentSnapshotF2005.aspx

TABLE 1. 2005 ASRT ENROLLMENT SNAPSHOT OF RADIOGRAPHY, RADIATION THERAPY, AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE PROGRAMS

Source: the American Society of Radiologic Technologists