Have you ever thought of becoming a radiation therapy technologist? This article might be for you! This article contains relevant information about this career to answer all of your questions for example, where do radiation therapy technologists work, what's their salary, how to become one, skills and abilities to have to do that job, what does a radiation therapy do, and much more.
Radiation therapy technologist work with a medical team to provide the right help, based on their medical needs, and to help treat patients with cancer.
They use radiation as a form of treatment for patients with cancer. They are responsible for collecting important information about the patients' file, and produce images to help plan the treatment. They usually rotate between 3 areas of this work field: planing, simulation and treatment.
Radiation therapy technologists administer radiation to patients with the prescription of the radiation oncologist (the doctor), they explain how those treatments work for the first time patients as well as possible side effects, they ensure that the equipment is functioning properly, they make scans to simulate the treatment before giving doses, they make the necessary accessories to keep the patient stable during the treatments, and they listen to the patients' concerns and make sure they are mentally, physically and emotionally okay.
They mostly work in hospitals with other health professionals from multiple departments.
A typical path to become a radiation therapy technologist starts with finishing high school with your advanced mathematics 564-506 or 565-506 from your senior year and your environmental science & technology 558-404 or 558-402 and with a college certificate in Radiation Oncology Technology. In your first year of college in that program, you will need to become a member of the order OTIMROEPMQ. At the end of your 3-year program you need to pass the final summary exam of everything learned.
In 2015 from my sources, radiation therapy technologists made around $54 000 per year, but now it's more around $60 000 per year in Canada. In Australia, it's around $80 000.
In Quebec, it is important to know both French and English because in the hospitals, they use a lot of terms in both languages. They usually get additional training to specialize in certain branches of the work field (only doing dosimetry, brachytherapy or planing).
Being exposed to radiation is feared by a lot of people. It is a possible danger, but they use dosimeters to calculate what does your body receive, and it is usually 0.00 something. Accidents may happen that you get exposed to radiation, but it is rare. Other dangers would be getting hurt while helping a patient to get on the treatment table.
Not very high. The job prospects for 2022-2026 is very good. The workers have to draw the organs that can be at risk from receiving radiation for nothing, and the often have to correct the computers mistakes. Which is why they need to have a good attention to details, be able to solve complex problems, and have a good digital dexterity.
At the age of retirement (60 years old approximately), I will have gained knowledge of the medical field, how to work efficiently as a team, how to assist and care for patients, and how to be aware of important health issues as for what's alarming or not.
I still have a lot to learn about this field, but I am quite excited to continue to my studies. I hope that sharing this information will be helpful, and maybe encourage you to come study Radiation Oncology.
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Rationale: to inform or educate
Authority: government
Date: recently published
Accuracy: probably true
Relevance: relevant for this document
Sources: cites sources