Therapeutic Radiology

[Evamaisie]

Hi- is anyone a therapeutic radiologist and willing to tell me more about it?

Anyone?

Do you mean radiographer?

(Radiology being a specialism within medicine)

(Neither of which I am, but a bump can't hurt!)

I do mean that - thank you!

What does ‘more’ encompass? What do you already know about this occupation?

Have you, for instance, looked at all the information on the National Careers Service webpages? (Scroll down.)

I work with them a lot - its a technical career with a lot of patient contact where you usually get to see them over an extended period. There is a possibility now to do further training to have an extended role, specialising in a particular area so you might run your own clinics, see patients on treatment to manage side effects etc. The hours are pretty family friendly - weekends and bank holiday working is very rare, no nights, and most work between 8 and 6. Downside is that there are relatively few centres, so its not easy to move between centres without moving geographically. Days can be full on, lots of time on your feet, and obviously some patients are quite distressing in terms of their disease.
What else would you like to know?

Thank you for both of your replies.

I have already read the information on the National Careers Services webpage and also Allied Health Professionals information.

I am looking to retrain at the moment and this is one option - I think I would enjoy it but my main concerns are academic ability (I’ve got a Biology A level but it was my fourth A level and a very low grade and secondly, if it is too big a risk to take (I have my own health problems and although I am asymptomatic currrently, I do have a degenerative condition that could make being on my feet a lot difficult later on). I’m already in my 30s so want to make sure I’m making the right decision going forward (I’ve had a 10 year professional career and just completely sick of the work I do)

A few questions...

What are your other A levels (science? humanities? languages?), do you have a degree (if so same question), and does your career since have any relevance to healthcare / therapies / science?

And can you articulate what attracts you to therapy radiography (rather than, say, diagnostic radiography or midwifery or dietetics or any of the other healthcare professions)?

Hi, thanks for replying!
I have a language degree and language, social science and English A levels so probably not very relevant.
My career since is not remotely healthcare based but I’ve experienced health issues myself (so general take an interest in developments, am participating in a clinical trial etc). A close relative recently had cancer so I’m interested in cancer treatments and advances in that kind of medicine over something else

Was hoping someone else might answer! I work with diagnostic radiographers, not the therapy sort, so take this with appropriate helpings of salt.

It sounds to me like you academic ability is likely to be fine, but you might need to think whether the technical dimension of therapy radiography is for you.

If not, there are lots of other healthcare professions where you can specialise in cancer care (depending on where you live, you might have a cancer centre nearby - you could look at NHS jobs for there to see what sort of things come up).

I don’t know a lot about it but years ago I applied and was accepted onto a therapeutic radiography course but chose midwifery instead. As a stressed out midwife I’m not sure that was the right decision. 😆

If I recall correctly there’s a lot of physics in the course and that put me off. I did ring the hospital up and arranged to spend a day in the unit which was interesting. But that was 20 years ago and pre covid.

Thank you both for your responses.

@Spindelina thanks for your help based on similar experience - I live near London so a lot of hospitals with specialists centres close by and other care professions are worth considering in that respect.

@QuebecBagnet thanks for you’re reply - why did you choose midwifery in the end? I think the physics and technical aspects could be off putting for me so perhaps back to the drawing board again.. I had previously considered and disregarded OT but maybe worth another think!

It was definitely the physics side of things which put me off, people saying there was a lot of it on the course. Not sure if that’s still the case. But I was worried that it would be too difficult or even boring, I never liked physics at school! Plus the actual job when I went for the day was slightly production line with not a lot of patient interaction. Fiddle about with the settings, get the person in and laid down, more setting fiddling. Sit and wait, help the person up and out. And repeat. I thought it might be a bit groundhogs day as a job…..I could be totally wrong.

Why have you disregarded OT? It's such a broad area I feel there is something to suit everyone. I'm currently at Uni studying OT if you have any questions.

@QuebecBagnet - I agree - I also found Physics the most boring of the sciences and didn’t take to it naturally like I did Biology so probably not for me on that basis!

@Hairyfairy01hi! Thank you for your message. I disregarded it as I started doing an intro course via Udemy online to get a feel and I wasn’t sure about it and I’m nervous about committing to such a big change without feeling really confident in it.. sometimes I wonder if I am specifically looking at healthcare courses as I know there will definitely be work at the end of it - I can’t afford to do another more generic course that wouldn’t necessarily improve my employment prospects. Are you enjoying the OT training? Is it what you expected?