Locate Radiation Therapist, Radiation Therapy Schools, Training, Jobs, and Careers

What is a Radiation Therapist?
We don’t have to tell you how deadly cancer is. It is devastating to families. Through research, some kinds of cancer can now be cured.

Those that help with this cure are radiation therapists. These therapists help radiation oncologists cure cancer by administering radiation therapy. Their job will involves things like:

1. Explaining the radiation procedure to the patient
2. Evaluating the patient’s health condition
3. Developing treatment plan with the radiation oncologist
4. Working with the dosimetrist to determine radiation treatment dosage
5. Positioning the x-ray imaging machine or computer tomography to pinpoint the area of tumor
6. Making sure the patient’s other body parts are not exposed to radiation
7. Administering the treatment from another room to avoid being exposed to radiation
8. Monitoring the patient’s condition through TV monitor
9. Adjusting the treatment through the intercom system based on feedback from the patient
10. Updating and keeping patients’ medical records
11. Maintaining and calibrating the radiation equipments and machines
12. Etc.

The therapist must be a people person. Cancer is an emotional disease. Patients who have it need the understanding and emotional support of people around them.

The radiation therapist must also be safety conscious. There are strict guidelines for handling radioactive materials.

How to Become a Radiation Therapist:
To become a therapist, one needs to get a high school diploma or equivalent. You should take courses in biology, chemistry, computer science, etc. After you meet the above requirement, you then need to apply to a radiation therapy school.

A radiation therapy program will take you from 1 to 4 years to finish. A certificate will take you 1 year. An associate degree will take you 2 years while a bachelor degree will take you 4 years to finish. You should expect to take such courses as:

a. Radiation Therapy
b. Radiation Physics
c. Radiation Detection
d. Fundamentals of Exposure
e. Introduction to Image Analysis
f. Radiation Protection
g. Radiation Instrumentation
h. Etc.

After graduation, most states require that you be registered and licensed. You can do so by taking and passing the certification examination given by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT).

Radiation Therapist Salary:
The radiation therapy career pays very well indeed. The average salary is $76,000 per year. We have seen salaries as high as $92,000 per year. This is nothing to sneeze at. Of course making the high end pay will depend on where you work, your level of education, and your years of experience.

Radiation Therapy School:
We have found a school that offers the radiation therapy program. The school is University of Cincinnati. You need to check them out by clicking this link.

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