The curriculum for the Radiation Therapy Certificate is as follows:
4.00
This course will introduce the students to the top ten U.S. adult cancers, as well as the most common pediatric cancers. Topics to be covered include cancer causes, detection, and prevention. Psychosocial aspects of being diagnosed with cancer and the role nutrition plays for cancer patients will be described. The course will also discuss the major treatment modalities for each cancer including radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and bone marrow transplants. The goals and objectives of the course will be met through the use of various teaching tools including but not limited to: PowerPoint presentations, videos, guest lectures, and a poster project with a presentation component. Cognitive assessment of the students will be accomplished through homework, quizzes, exams, and a group poster and oral presentation. Students with any type of academic background are welcome.
Offered Fall Term
NATURAL SCIENCE FOR BA BFA & BSJ
Radiation Therapy (Major or Certificate) or Medical Dosimetry Students Only
4.00
This course will serve an an introduction to the role of the radiation therapist and medical dosimetrist in a Radiation Oncology department. Through a combination of detailed lectures, discussions, role-playing, case studies, and hands-on laboratory exercises, students will be introduced to the professional and clinical aspects of their respective professions. Additional topics included radiation safety, patients rights, infection control, communication for the clinic, patient assessment, and psychosocial aspects of cancer including death and dying.
Offered Fall Term
PHYS L315 concurrently; Radiation Biology, Radiation Science, Radiation Therapy (Major or Certificate), or Medical Dosimetry Students Only
3.00
Content is designed to establish a thorough knowledge of the radiation physics used in radiation therapy treatments. Topics to be covered in this course include a review of basic physics (energy, mass, matter, SI units), structure of matter, types of radiations, nuclear transformations, radioactive decay, the fundamentals of x-ray generators and x-ray production, interactions of x and gamma rays with matter, absorbed dose, measurements of dose, principles of and practical use of ionization chambers and electrometers, Geiger counters and other survey meters, principles and practical use of TLDs, film, calorimetry, scintillation detectors, radiation protection and quality assurance.
Offered Fall Term
PHYS 315 concurrently
1.00
This lab will cover a broad range of experiments associated with the Department of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Topics include: Quality assurance measurements for radiation therapy, calibration of radiation teletherapy unit using ionization chambers, measurements of dose distribution via film, measurements of dose in a phantom via TLDs, radiation protection survey of therapy installation and brachytherapy sources, and radiation biology.
Offered Fall Term
Expanded Classroom Requirement
MATH 104, MATH 121 or appropriate math placement score.
4.00
A one-semester introduction to differential and integral calculus. Theory is presented informally and topics and techniques are limited to polynomials, rational functions, logarithmic and exponential functions. Topics include a review of precalculus, linear regression, limits and continuity, derivatives, differentiation rules, implicit differentiation, related rates, applications of derivatives to graphing, minima/maxima, applications of the derivative, marginal analysis, differential equations of growth and decay, anti-derivatives, the definite integral, the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, area measurements. This course cannot be used to satisfy core or complementary requirements by students majoring in chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, or physics. Several sections offered each semester. *This course cannot be applied toward a departmental concentration in Mathematics by Sawyer Business School students.
BIO 204 and MS 200
3.00
Through a systems-based approach, this course will review anatomy and physiology while teaching medical terminology. This course will also discuss the major cancers associated with each anatomical system and introduce the student to radiation therapy treatment techniques and procedures.
Offered Spring Term
BIO 204 and MS 200
3.00
Through a systems-based approach, this course will review anatomy and physiology while teaching medical terminology. This course will also discuss the major cancers associated with each anatomical system and introduce the student to radiation therapy treatment techniques and procedures.
Offered Spring Term
MS 301 concurrently
1.00
Provides the necessary clinical experience to become a radiation therapist. All labs are conducted at our clinical affiliates. Under the supervision of licensed radiation therapists, the students will become increasingly proficient in the manipulation of treatment equipment, will gain a thorough understanding of radiation treatment plans, will deliver a prescribed radiation dose to cancer patients, and will acquire knowledge of all relevant aspects of patient care. These labs are available only to students enrolled in the clinical track.
Offered Spring Term
MS 315
4.00
This course is intended to expand on the concepts and theories presented in Radiation Physics I. It will provide a detailed analysis of the treatment units used in external beam radiation therapy, their beam geometry, basic dose calculations and dose distributions. This course will also cover the principles, theories, and uses of brachytherapy. This course was previously MS 412
Offered Spring Term
MS 315;MSL415 concurrently
3.00
This course will discuss the factors that influence treatment planning and govern the clinical aspects of patient treatment. Topics to be covered include treatment planning with 3-D CT and MRI beams, isodose plan descriptions, clinical applications of treatment beams and advanced dosimetric calculations. This course will also contrast new emerging technologies with conventional radiation therapy techniques (SRT, SRS, IMRT, Image Guided Therapy, Respiratory Gating).
Offered Spring Term
MS 315, MS L315, MS 415 concurrently
1.00
This lab will provide the student with the opportunity to apply clinical dosimetry principles and theories learned in the classroom to actual treatment planning situations within the clinic. Through hands-on lab exercises the student will demonstrate the use of the treatment planning instruments and interpret information they compute.
Offered Spring Term
Take MS-301 MS-L301;
1.00
Student radiation therapists will spend 12 weeks (full-time, 40 hrs/wk) gaining hands on patient care experience in the department of radiation oncology at our clinical affiliates. Under constant supervision by licensed therapists, the student will be guided toward the application of theory in the real world of cancer treatment.
Summer
Expanded Classroom Requirement
Radiation Therapy (Major or Certificate) or Medical Dosimetry Students Only
3.00
This course is a continuation of MS 301. Through the same didactic approach, the course will cover all of the anatomical systems and their related medical terminology NOT covered in MS 301.
Offered Fall Term
Radiation Therapy (Major or Certificate) Students Only
1.00
Provides the necessary clinical experience to become a radiation therapist. All labs are conducted at our clinical affiliates. Under the supervision of licensed radiation therapists, the students will become increasingly proficient in the manipulation of treatment equipment, will gain a thorough understanding of radiation treatment plans, will deliver a prescribed radiation dose to cancer patients, and will acquire knowledge of all relevant aspects of patient care. These labs are available only to students enrolled in the clinical track.
Offered Fall Term
Radiation Therapy (Major or Certificate) or Medical Dosimetry Students Only
4.00
This course, taught by Massachusetts General Hospital physicians will review cancer epidemiology, etiology, detection, diagnosis and prevention, lymphatic drainage, and treatment. The pathology(s) of each cancer will be presented in detail including the rationale for each preferred modality of treatment.
Offered Fall Term
Radiation Therapy (Major or Certificate) or Medical Dosimetry Students Only
4.00
This course will begin with an introduction to radiology, reviewing x-ray production and discussing basic radiation physics, image formation (Kv, mA) and distortion (blur, magnification), conventional processing and digital imaging. The above-mentioned radiographic imaging concepts will be presented with conventional lectures as well as with several imaging laboratories. In addition, the basic principles of each imaging modality, including mammography, CT, MRI, Nuc Med, and Ultra Sound, will be presented. With the use of departmental tours and guest lecturers, the use, benefits and limitations of each will be discussed. Building upon the information previously presented, radiographic anatomy will also be covered with an emphasis on cross sectional anatomy. Students will review basic anatomy viewed in sectional planes (axial/transverse) of the body. Using CT and MRI images, the topographic relationship between internal organs and surface anatomy will be interpreted and discussed.
Offered Fall Term
MS 303 concurrent
1.00
Provides the necessary clinical experience to become a radiation therapist. All labs are conducted at our clinical affiliates. Under the supervision of licensed radiation therapists, the students will become increasingly proficient in the manipulation of treatment equipment, will gain a thorough understanding of radiation treatment plans, will deliver a prescribed radiation dose to cancer patients, and will acquire knowledge of all relevant aspects of patient care. These labs are available only to students enrolled in the clinical track.
Offered Spring Term
Take BIO 403, MS 315 and MS L315.
4.00
Topics covered include: physio-chemical aspects of energy absorption, the sequence of events after irradiation occurring on the molecular, cellular and organized tissue levels, radiation response and repair of eukaryotic cells, effects of radiation quality, dose rate, environmental conditions, cell cycle kinetics, tumor and normal cell population dynamics, radiation-induced carcinogenesis and mutagenesis, tumor pathophysiology and radiobiology, and recent advances in experimental radiation oncology.
Offered Spring Term
Senior status
4.00
This course will be available to senior students enrolled in the Radiation Therapy and Medical Dosimetry programs. This seminar style course will serve a number of purposes; one will be to prepare our graduating students for board certification in their respective disciplines (AART for Radiation Therapy and MDCB for Medical Dosimetry). Exam preparation will include the use of lectures, student teaching, online teaching tools, mini mock exams, and a full-length mock exam. The seminar will also assist students with the preparation of their professional resumes including discussions regarding the skills necessary to make job interviews successful.
All candidates seeking admission into the Radiation Therapy Certificate program must hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution demonstrating a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. In addition, completion of the following courses with a grade of a “B” or better is required:
Graduates of the program may seek employment immediately following graduation and will be eligible for the ARRT Registry Exam.
| Last Completed Award Year: | 2011-12 |
| Program Name: | Certificate in Radiation Therapy |
| On-time Completion Rate: | * |
| Placement Rate: | N/A |
| Occupations by SOC Code: | 29.1124.00 onetoneline.org** |
| Total Estimated Tuition & Fee Costs: | $17,516 |
| Books & Supply Costs: | $1,200 |
| Room & Board Costs: | $15,508 |
| Median Title IV Loan Debt: | * |
| Median Private Loan Debt: | * |
| Median Debt from Institutional Financing Plans or amount students were obligated to pay at program completion. | * |
* If the number of students who completed the program during the award year was less than 10, for privacy reasons, this information is not disclosed to the public.
** The Occupational Information Network(O*NET Online) is a database developed by the Department of Labor as a primary source of occupational information.
