Screen for pregnancy and identify breast feeding mothers in accordance with local policies and procedures

Utilize evidence-based guidelines (e.g., iRefer Adult and Paediatrics) to select the most appropriate radiological imaging procedure based on individual patient characteristics, clinical indicators and local imaging protocols where available

Identify situations in which the use of ionizing radiation is justified in the case of pregnant women, women of reproductive age, children, or breast-feeding mothers

Assess the cumulative effective dose for a series of exams for a given individual patient

Apply the principle of justification to all groups of patients and individuals including the exposure of asymptomatic individuals, comforters, and carers

Explain the benefits and risks of a particular procedure to all patients, parents, or legal guardians, at a level they can understand (to include the radiation risks wherever there is a significant deterministic or stochastic effect or when the patient has a question)

Inform the patient or parent of a child of the health problem, the planned procedure and follow up care

Provide the practitioner with necessary referral information to aid in the justification and optimization of an examination

Advise actions in case of adverse incidents, accidents, near misses or inadvertent radiation exposure of a patient

Discuss radiation induced skin injury and other potential radiation effects in patients and worker

Refers within scope of practice and works collegially and collaborative with members of the MDT to support the process of justification and optimization of radiation protection.

Maintain competence in referral practice by engaging in continuous education, clinical self-audit and competence review

Students registered to X907 Professional Certificate Referring for Radiological Procedures (Adults & Children) must have successfully completed a minimum NFQ Level 8 Health Assessment module prior to registering to this module.

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Self-assessment activities

Written and oral feedback and feedforward is given by the consultant medical practitioner to the student after each case (i.e., 1-10). The first seven clinical cases are formative and the last three are summative (i.e., a measure of clinical competence). The consultant medical practitioner and student work together over a period of 100 hours and engage in teaching, learning and shared decision-making while referring patients for radiological procedures. The student records and documents each 'referring' case in their logbook as part of their clinical portfolio. They are required to reflect on the medical practitioner’s feedback and feedforward after each case, write a short personal perspective analysis on strengths and weaknesses, and identify and record learning outcomes for the next clinical case.