Abstract
Radiation therapists in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) work closely with a variety of healthcare professions in tertiary care clinical practice to deliver treatment to patients with cancer. This interprofessional team includes radiation oncologists/doctors, medical physicists, nurses, dietitians, social workers and dentists. Effective collaboration between radiation therapists and the other professionals involved in the care of patients receiving cancer treatments including radiation therapy is paramount to the delivery of efficient, quality care as interprofessional collaboration reduces harm to patients, increases patient satisfaction and improves staff wellbeing in relation to their work. Interprofessional collaboration is regarded as a core competency to register with most health professional accreditation bodies in NZ including the Medical Radiation Technologist Board. Despite the requirement for graduates of different health professions to work collaboratively together to care for patients with cancer, radiation therapy students and students of other health professions have traditionally had little exposure to each other's disciplines during their respective training programs, and have little knowledge about each other's professions.