15–19 June 2025, Vilnius, Lithuania
Course report

Sadhbh O’Toole, a second-year medical physics resident in the Irish National Radiation Oncology Physics Residency Programme, attended her first ESTRO course to deepen her understanding of dose calculation algorithms and treatment planning systems. She shares with us some insights on the course.

What aspects of the course were the most interesting and why?

The topics of probabilistic planning and robustness evaluation were very interesting to me. The concept that both the clinical target volume and dose prescription are probabilistic objects, and should be treated as such, was not something I had considered in depth prior to the course. The potential for probabilistic planning as a paradigm shift was fascinating to me, and generated a lot of conversation with course attendees!

How did the course activities improve your knowledge and skills in the relevant subject?

The course undoubtedly improved my knowledge in the subjects that were covered, particularly in the areas of dose calculation algorithms and patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) methodologies. Having the opportunity to learn from experts in the field really helped to reinforce and improve my previous understanding of the topics, and helped me to grasp more innovative topics as well.

Did the course meet your expectations? If so, how?

The course exceeded my expectations! Firstly, I thought the organisation of the entire event was excellent. The course layout was beneficial to my learning in that basic concepts were tackled first, which helped to reinforce my theoretical knowledge and lay the groundwork for more complex topics. Moreover, the course had a good mix of theoretical and practical information.

List three important ‘takeaways’ following the course.

• To obtain accurate measurements, one must understand the strengths and weaknesses of different detectors and experimental setups.
• The use of straightforward plans results in fewer uncertainties and superior robustness, so plan complexity should be analysed as part of the PSQA process.
• It is important to validate and optimise PSQA systems, and to optimise PSQA workflows for your own clinic, using a combination of systems that improve efficacy and efficiency of PSQA measurements.

How would you encourage someone who has never been to an ESTRO course to join this course next year/ in two years?

I believe this course would be of great benefit to all medical physicists who are in the early stages of their careers, and for those wishing to refresh their knowledge. This course provides an opportunity to learn from field experts about essential topics in a focused setting. I came away from this course feeling that I was better equipped to enter the workforce as a clinical medical physicist when I complete my residency.

Sadhbh O'Toole
National Radiation Oncology Physics Residency Programme trainee physicist 
St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network
Dublin, Ireland
sadhbh.otoole@slh.ie