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Clinical Specialist Radiation Therapist Project

Clinical Specialist Radiation Therapists (CSRTs) are medical radiation technologists registered with the College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario in the specialty of radiation therapy. They use advanced clinical, technical and professional knowledge to collaborate with other members of the healthcare team in their specialized areas.

The Clinical Specialist Radiation Therapist project defined and pilot tested this advanced practice role in the healthcare system. Results show that implementing this position can increase access to radiation treatment for Ontarians by:

Increasing the capacity of the system to accommodate more patients
Improving the quality of care received by patients
Improving the health of Ontarians

The Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists is developing a national certification process to award the designation of Advanced Practice Radiation Technologists (Therapists), or APRT(T)s. This will create a national standard for the understanding of advanced practice in radiation therapy. Some Clinical Specialist Radiation Therapists from this project will likely go on to obtain the APRT(T) designation.

There are 23 active CSRT positions across 9 of the 14 regional cancer centres in Ontario:

7 CSRTs have been active since 2007 and 2008
10 CSRTs began working in July 2012 and July 2013
7 CSRTs began working in the fall of 2014 (1 position is now inactive)

Hospital/Cancer Centre	Position Title
Walker Family Cancer Centre	Metastatic Bone Cancer CSRT
Hamilton Health Sciences/Juravinski Cancer Centre	Head and Neck Cancer CSRT Breast CSRT Thoracic HDR, Brachytherapy CSRT
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre/Odetter Cancer Centre	Palliative Radiation Therapy CSRT Skin Cancer CSRT Brachytherapy CSRT Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy CSRT
University Health Network/Princess Margaret Cancer Centre	Target Visualization and Delineation CSRT, Head and Neck Site Group Palliative Radiation Therapy CSRT (not filled) Patient Assessment and Symptom Management CSRT, Breast Site Group Brachytherapy CSRT Image Guided Adaptive Radiation Therapy, Pelvis Image Guided Adaptive Radiation Therapy Chest/Upper Abdomen
Credit Valley Hosptial/Carlo Fidani Peel Regional Cancer Centre	Palliative CSRT Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy and Stereotactic Radiosurgery CSRT
Southlake Regional Health Centre/Stronach Regional Cancer Centre	Palliative CSRT Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy Lung CSRT
London Health Sciences Centre/London Regional Cancer Program	Planning Image Definition and Contouring Head and Neck CSRT Skin Cancer CSRT
Durham Regional Cancer Centre	Palliative CSRT
Royal Victoria Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre	Palliative CSRT
Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre	Palliative CSRT

These project resources are intended to help cancer centres develop and implement the Clinical Specialist Radiation Therapist (CSRT) role in their own programs.

Request for Proposals Package

This package includes a set of guides and resources to help departments support and develop a valid and appropriate CSRT position.

Request for Proposals Package

Standardized Measures Package and Protocols

This package provides tools to evaluate a new healthcare provider role and the mechanisms used to report progress to an administrative or monitoring body.

Standardized Measures Package and Protocols

Annual Reports

To request access to full versions of the annual reports and a comprehensive set of resources, email the Radiation Treatment Program.

In 2004, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care funded a 2-year development project to assess the feasibility a new model of care. The new model would be facilitated by a new healthcare provider role – the advanced practice radiation therapist.

At the time, many challenges made it difficult for the radiation treatment sector to keep up with the cancer care needs of Ontario patients. The ministry began looking for innovative strategies to meet those needs.

Following the success of the 2-year project, a 10-year (2007 to 2016) series of projects began with the development and pilot testing of the Clinical Specialist in Radiation Therapist role.

Project Timeline

Years	Project Phase	What We Accomplished	Number of CSRT Positions
2003	Planning Phase	Established Ontario Radiation Advanced Practice Committee Established Project Oversight Committee Established Selection Advisory Committee	0
2004 to 2006	Developmental Phase	Piloted 7 CSRT positions in 4 cancer centres	7
2007 to 2009	Demonstration Phase	Piloted 10 CSRT positions in 5 cancer centres	10
2010 to 2016	Sustainability or Integration Phase	Continued 7 CSRT positions from Demonstration Phase in 3 cancer centres Added 18 new positions in 10 cancer centres (7 new centres)	25

Contact the Radiation Treatment Program

To find out more about the Clinical Specialist in Radiation Therapy project, or to request access to a comprehensive set of tools to help implement this advanced practice role in your centre, email the Radiation Treatment Program.