TURKISH JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2015 , Vol 30 , Num 4
Daily workflow and workload of radiation oncology specialists in Turkey
Fadime AKMAN, 1 Serra KAMER,2 Cem ÖNAL,3 Fulya AĞAOĞLU,4 Yıldız GÜNEY,5 Ayşe HİÇSÖNMEZ,6 Mehmet KOÇ,7 Didem ÇOLPAN ÖKSÜZ,8 Gökhan ÖZYİĞİT,9 Serdar ÖZKÖK2
1Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Radyasyon Onkolojisi Anabilim Dalı, İzmir
2Ege Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Radyasyon Onkolojisi Anabilim Dalı, İzmir
3Başkent Üniversitesi Adana Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi, Radyasyon Onkolojisi Kliniği, Adana
4İstanbul Üniversitesi Onkoloji Enstitüsü, Radyasyon Onkolojisi Anabilim Dalı, İstanbul
5Ankara Onkoloji Hastanesi, Radyasyon Onkolojisi Kliniği, Ankara
6Ankara Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Radyasyon Onkolojisi Anabilim Dalı, Ankara
7Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Radyasyon Onkolojisi Anabilim Dalı, Konya
8İstanbul Üniversitesi Cerrahpaşa Tıp Fakültesi, Radyasyon Onkolojisi Anabilim Dalı, İstanbul
9Hacettepe Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Radyasyon Onkolojisi Anabilim Dalı, Ankara
OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to research the effort required by patient evaluation, radiotherapy planning and treatment processes in the daily applications of radiation oncology in terms of time, and to use this effort as the primary source for human power and infrastructure planning required in radiotherapy.

METHODS
The surveys carried out by Turkish Radiation Oncology Association Proficiency Board, Curriculum Preparation and Evaluation Commission on Education Institutions, Surveys delivered to the officers of the center via electronic mail, were answered and evaluated in accordance with the data of 2012.

RESULTS
26 University and 8 Ministry of Health Hospitals participated in the study. The total number of specialists employed in the participant centers, were 227. For per specialist, 383 hours in a year were spent for the patients at follow-up, 334 hours were spent for the patients that were in treatment, and 950 hours were spent for planning and treatment set-ups. It was determined that the time spent for per patient in intensity modulated radiotherapy technique, was 2-3 times more when compared to the location of tumor, which is a conformal technique. It was observed that this duration was much longer in special radiotherapy applications such as brachytherapy, total body irradiation and radiosurgery.

CONCLUSION
Technological advancements in radiotherapy, require more effort and working time for new job descriptions and in daily practice. Keywords : Radiotherapy; IMRT; 3D conformal radiotherapy