Radiation Therapy

Provides an overview of the foundations of radiation therapy and the practitioner’s role in the healthcare delivery system. Principles, practices, and policies of the educational program, healthcare organizations, principles of radiation and health safety and professional responsibilities, and ethics, law, and medical terminology of the radiation therapist will be discussed and examined.

Provides an overview of cancer and the specialty of radiation therapy. The medical, biological, pathological, physical, and technical aspects will be discussed. The roles and responsibilities of the radiation therapist, the treatment prescription, the documentation of treatment parameters, and delivery will also be discussed.

Discussion of the foundation concepts and competencies in assessment and evaluation of the patient for service delivery. Psychological and physical needs and factors affecting treatment outcome will be presented and examined. Routine and emergency care procedures will be presented. This capstone course will review and build upon key elements of mindful communication students have been studying throughout the degree program. In particular, students will practice applying mindful communication skills in the workplace and reflect on those experiences to improve interactions with colleagues, customers, clients, and others. Students will work in groups with peers from different majors. Through online discussion posts, students will use mindful communication techniques to practice attending to others, confirming understanding, and providing feedback that is respectful, insightful, and useful in meeting others’ needs. Students will be encouraged and given the opportunity to engage in regular contemplative practices such as mindfulness meditation.

Establishes a knowledge base in factors that govern and influence the production and recording of radiographic images for patient simulation, treatment planning, and treatment verification in radiation oncology. Radiation oncology imaging equipment and related devices will be emphasized. Content will also include quality management programs and continuing quality improvements in radiation oncology.

Establishes a basic knowledge of physics pertinent to developing an understanding of radiation use in the clinical setting. Fundamental physical units, measurements, principles, atomic structure, and types of radiation are emphasized. Also presented are the fundamentals of x-ray generating equipment, x-ray production, and interaction with matter.

Provides sequential development, application, analysis, integration, synthesis, and evaluation of concepts and theories in radiation therapy. Through structured sequential assignments in clinical facilities, concepts of team practice, patient-centered clinical practice, and professional development will be discussed, examined, and evaluated. All students enrolled in this course will be charged a $500 per semester clinical surcharge.

Requires two 8-hour days of clinical over 11 weeks to provide sequential development, application, analysis, integration, synthesis, and evaluation of concepts and theories in radiation therapy. Through structured sequential assignments in clinical facilities, concepts of team practice, patient-centered clinical practice, and professional development will be discussed, examined, and evaluated. All students enrolled in this course will be charged a $500 per semester clinical surcharge.

Presents basic principles of radiation protection and safety for the radiation therapist. Radiation health and safety requirements of federal and state regulatory agencies, accreditation agencies, and healthcare organizations are incorporated. Specific responsibilities of the radiation therapist are discussed, examined, performed, and evaluated. Content also includes basic concepts and principles of radiation biology. The interactions of radiation with cells, tissues and the body as a whole, and resultant biophysical events will be presented. Discussion of the theories and principles of tolerance dose, time dose relationships, fractionation schemes, and the relationship to the clinical practice of radiation therapy will be discussed, examined, and evaluated.

Establishes factors that influence and govern clinical planning of patient treatment. Encompassed are isodose descriptions, patient contouring, radiobiologic considerations, dosimetric calculations, compensation, and clinical application of treatment beams. Optimal treatment planning is emphasized along with particle beams. Sterotactic and emerging technologies are presented.

Examines and evaluates the management of neoplastic disease using knowledge in arts and sciences while promoting critical thinking and the basis of ethical clinical decision making. The epidemiology, etiology, detection, diagnosis, patient condition, treatment, and prognosis of neoplastic disease will be presented, discussed, and evaluated in relationship to histology, anatomical site, and patterns of spread. The radiation therapist’s responsibility in the management of neoplastic disease will be examined and linked to the skills required to analyze complex issues and make informed decisions while appreciating the character of the profession.

Studies normal sectional anatomy via diagrams and radiologic images. The pathology content is broken into two parts: general pathology and neoplasia. General pathology introduces basic disease concepts, theories of disease causation, and system-by-system pathophysiologic disorders most frequently encountered in clinical practice. Neoplasia provides an in-depth study of new and abnormal development of cells. The processes involved in the development and classification of both benign and malignant tumors and site-specific information on malignant tumors is presented.

Reviews and expands concepts and theories in the radiation physics course. Detailed analysis of the structure of matter, properties of radiation, nuclear transformations, x-ray production, and interactions of ionizing radiation are emphasized. Also presented are treatment units used in external radiation therapy, measurement and quality of ionizing radiation produced, absorbed dose measurement, dose distribution, and scatter analysis.

Prepares the radiation therapy student to take the national certification examination through the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. Various topics will be addressed each week with a practice registry exam given to complete the program.

Provides sequential development, application, analysis, integration, synthesis, and evaluation of concepts and theories in radiation therapy. Through structured sequential assignments in clinical facilities, concepts of team practice, patient-centered clinical practice, and professional development will be discussed, examined, and evaluated. All students enrolled in this course will be charged a $500 per semester clinical surcharge.

Builds on the sequential development, application, analysis, integration, synthesis, and evaluation of concepts and theories in radiation therapy. Through structured sequential assignments in clinical facilities, concepts of team practice, patient-centered clinical practice, and professional development will be discussed, examined, and evaluated. All students enrolled in this course will be charged a $500 per semester clinical surcharge.

Requires 32 hours per week over 11 weeks and builds on the sequential development, application, analysis, integration, synthesis, and evaluation of concepts and theories in radiation therapy. Through structured sequential assignments in clinical facilities, concepts of team practice, patient-centered clinical practice, and professional development will be discussed, examined, and evaluated. All students enrolled in this course will be charged a $500 per semester clinical surcharge.

Designed to perfect the content of the previous didactic and clinical courses. The content is designed to provide sequential development, application, analysis, integration, synthesis, and evaluation of concepts and theories in radiation therapy. Through structured sequential assignments in clinical facilities, concepts of team practice, patient-centered clinical practice, and professional development will be discussed, examined, and evaluated. All students enrolled in this course will be charged a $500 per semester clinical surcharge.