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Description
A cancer patient says hello as a man helps him position himself on an x-ray table. The man assisting the patient is a radiation therapist. He is using encouragement and technical skills to help the patient through the most serious medical challenge of his life.
When a patient has cancer, a common form of treatment is radiation therapy, which helps to shrink tumors and save lives. Radiation therapists administer this treatment. They combine knowledge of medicine, physics, and medical machines with an ability to interact with and reassure patients.
In addition to providing a chance to help patients and apply scientific expertise, the occupation of radiation therapist often offers above-average salaries, and it is expected to have faster-than-average job growth over the 2002-12 decade.
Read on to learn more about radiation therapy and the radiation therapist occupation, including its work, earnings, training requirements, and expected job prospects.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy is the use of radiation to treat cancer in the human body. As part of a medical radiation oncology team, radiation therapists use machines--called linear accelerators--to administer radiation to patients. Linear accelerators, used in a procedure called external beam therapy, project radioactive x-rays at targeted cancer cells. As the radioactive x-rays collide with human tissue, they produce highly energized ions that can shrink and eliminate cancerous tumors.
Radiation therapy is sometimes used as the sole treatment for cancer, but it is most often used in conjunction with chemotherapy or surgery.
Radiation therapists at work
Radiation treatment begins when a radiation therapist uses an x-ray imaging machine to pinpoint the location of the tumor. The... |
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