CONTINUED: Radiation Therapy: A Career That Multiplies Hope, If You Can Hack It

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Prepare for both joy and heartache

A career in radiation therapy can have many positive attributes, including the knowledge that you are doing something worthwhile. “These are people that have cancer. The reality is, without these types of treatments, people die,” says Belanger. “It’s a very rewarding and satisfying job, and patients are grateful for what we do.”

Still, it’s important to keep in mind that there is also a downside. “The negative side of it is, of course, that the people we treat have cancer, and people do die. That can be very, very hard,” says Belanger. “We see children with cancer and young people with cancer. Although many people are cured now of cancer, there are many who do not make it, and that can be extremely hard for people to get to grips with.”

For this reason, Belanger says radiation therapists should try not to become too personally involved with their patients. “We don’t advise staff to become friends with patients, to visit them at home, or to go to funerals and that sort of thing because it becomes much too personal.”

Another fact to consider—one that may be a downside to some, but an exciting upside to others—is that radiation therapists need to be willing to relocate in order to find employment. “Radiation therapy isn’t like nursing where you can work in many different areas,” Belanger says. “Radiation therapists need to work within cancer centers that have a radiation therapy department, and not every city or town has one. Usually, it means having to live and work in a major city.”

Continue your research

Belanger wholeheartedly believes that potential students should visit a radiation therapy department and soak it all in—before enrolling in a radiation therapy program. “It’s vitally important that you understand what we do,” she says. “A lot of potential students mistake us with x-ray and nuclear medicine, or they think that radiology and radiation therapy are the same thing, and that is definitely not the case.” She also highly recommends the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Therapists (CAMRT) and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (AART) as good resources.

What I took from Belanger’s first-hand account of working in the field of radiation therapy is that it’s simultaneously one of the most emotionally satisfying and emotionally trying careers in health care. However, if you have the compassion and backbone to thrive in this type of environment, you will be among the medical heroes working to eradicate one of the most common causes of death in North America today. Not bad for a day’s work, if you ask me!