Radiation Therapy Technology Training Program

Overview

The Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Radiation Oncology works in collaboration with Suffolk University and the University of Vermont to educate and provide clinical training for students working toward degrees in radiation therapy and medical biophysics degrees.

Students learn the art and importance of teamwork while working with all the groups within the specialty of radiation oncology, including radiation oncologists, oncology nurses, medical dosimetrists, and physicists. The extensive list of treatment options allows students to obtain broad experience while on assignment here. Our broad list of treatments includes:

• Intensity-modulated radiation therapy
• Intraoperative radiation therapy
• Proton beam therapy
• Brachytherapy
• Stereotactic radiotherapy and radiosurgery

Massachusetts General Hospital additionally provides their students with experience in state of the art technology including:

• Ultrasound use in setting up prostate patients
• IGRT (Image-guided radiation therapy)
• Vision RT

The program is highly selective with a limited number of internship opportunities available per academic year.

Students integrate classroom theory with patient care by completing over 1300 clinical contact hours.

Because Mass General offers such unique and/or advanced treatment modalities, our students gain experience treating common as well as extremely rare cancers.

The collective goal is to ensure patients receive the best possible medical care with the best possible outcomes. By the end of the internship, many of the students remain employed at the hospital or they are placed in other academic centers throughout the United States.

Requirements

Suffolk University provides an opportunity to train as a radiation therapist in a four-year bachelor’s degree or a two-year post-baccalaureate certificate program.

Students are accepted into our training program in the junior year of their program at Suffolk University. These candidates must have a minimum 2.8 GPA to be interviewed for the available openings. In addition to an interview, students will complete on the day of the interview a math assessment exam, and a writing sample. If accepted into the clinical track, they will begin to prepare for their clinical internship in the fall semester, following the interview.

Curriculum

Program Overview - Radiation Biology Clinical Track

Junior Year

• Chemistry I and II with associated labs
• Cell Biology
• Introduction to Clinical Radiation
• Radiation Physics I with Lab
• Clinical Radiation I with lab (consisting of 2, 8-hour days per week in the clinic)
• Radiation Physics II

Senior Year

• Summer practicum: 11.5 weeks of full-time clinical hours (May to August)
• Clinical Radiation II and lab (three 8-hour days in the clinic)
• Oncology and Pathology (team taught by HMS residents)
• Radiology for Radiation Therapy
• Biostatistics
• Clinical III and lab (three 8-hour days per week)
• Clinical Dosimetry
• Radiation Biology
• Senior Seminar

How to Apply

To apply for the Suffolk University Medical Sciences Program, contact:

Jessica Mac M.S., R.T. (T)
Radiation Sciences Program Director
Suffolk University
41 Temple Street
Boston, MA 02114
Telephone: 617-305-1995
Fax: 617-367-5063
Email: jlmac@suffolk.edu

To apply for the University of Vermont Radiation Therapy Program, contact:

UVM Admissions Office
Prospect Street
Burlington, VT 05401
Telephone: 802-656-3370
Fax: 802-656-8611
Email: admissions@uvm.edu