Linac Calibration and Small Field Dosimetry Course

 

 

University of Wisconsin Medical Radiation Research Center

1111 Highland Ave, Rm 1022 (Lecture)

Madison, WI 5370


 
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TARGET AUDIENCE - This course is designed for medical physicists interested in learning the technical aspects of calibrating and commissioning a medical linear accelerator.
DATES           TBD
FORMAT - Attendees will begin each of the two days at 7:30am with didactic classroom training by the course faculty members. They will have their course binder to use as a guide and take notes. Following the lectures, the attendees will move to a Varian 21EX linac laboratory setting and spend the rest of the day learning how to make calibration and commissioning measurements. All equipment will be provided by the UWMRRC and is not an endorsement of the system vendors. Each day of the course will adjourn at 5:15pm.
DURATION   2 Days
COST   $2,000 USD per participant (includes complimentary breakfast, lunch and dinner)
EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS - A course notebook binder will be provided to each student at the beginning of the course and will be theirs to keep. In this notebook will be a copy of the lecture notes, pertinent protocols and publications, as well as sample results of calibration and commissioning data.
COURSE CREDITS - This course is designed to provide continuing education (CE) credits for qualified medical physicists. Application has been made to CAMPEP for approval of up to 14 hours of Medical Physics Continuing Education Credit (MPCEC) for qualified medical physicists.
PREREQUISITES     A basic understanding of clinical medical physics is required.
EDUCATIONAL MISSION STATEMENT - Linac calibrations are an important responsibility of a clinical medical physicist. This course is designed to provide basic calibration and commissioning instruction to clinical medical physicists. With a combination of hands-on and classroom instructional training, attendees will become familiar with a wide range of proper techniques for accurate measurements of medical linear accelerators. The course is held in a linac laboratory dedicated to research and education in the well-established Department of Medical Physics at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. A wide array of instrumentation and detectors are available for students to acquire hands on experience with an experienced and diverse course faculty.
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES - At the completion of this course, participants should have learned:
  1. The national and international linac calibration protocols
  2. How to set up a water tank for the purposes of calibration and commissioning of small fields
  3. How to acquire scanning data and take static measurements for small fields
  4. How to perform data analysis on the measurements and calculate the dose
  5. How to set up baseline measurements for subsequent routine quality assurance
  6. Practical lessons and things to avoid during a calibration and commissioning session
PROGRAM EVALUATION METHOD - The standard CAMPEP Program and Speaker Evaluation Form will be used for each session of the course.
PROGRAM ATTENDENCE VERIFICATION - The standard CAMPEP Session Attendance Form will be used.
ANTICIPATED PROGRAM FREQUENCY - This course may be offered up to four times per year.
CAPACITY - Maximum 6 attendees
FACILITIES - Equipment used in the hands on linac laboratory sessions:
  • Varian 21EX RapidArc-ready linac with full kV and MV imaging capabilities
  • Reference class farmer-type ionization chambers
  • Scanning-type cylindrical ionization chambers
  • Parallel-plate ionization chambers
  • Diodes
  • Scintillators
  • A full range of plastic phantom slabs
  • A device dedicated to routine daily calibration output check measurements
CLICK HERE to download your Registration Form.