Students are expected to provide proof of a Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan prior to the start of the program or clinical start. The insurance plan must cover you throughout the length of your clinical experience, which in most cases, consists of the entire length of the program. If you are in need of Health Insurance, please note the following important dates and visit cod.studentbenefitplans.com.

Important Dates

• Open Enrollment: Typically opens November through mid-January
  If you will need health insurance ANYTIME within the next year, you must apply during the current open enrollment period.

If you miss open enrollment, but have a qualifying life event, you can still apply during a Special Enrollment Period.

While we cannot guarantee your official acceptance into the program, you need to be aware that there is short timeframe of when you are able to purchase a Health Insurance plan. The purpose of this step is to make you aware and that the time to research and purchase is NOW. Purchasing health insurance outside of this timeframe will take months and may prohibit your admittance into the Program. NOTE: Obtaining Health Insurance is NOT an application requirement but it is a requirement to be in the program.

Radiation therapists require a diverse set of skills necessary to participate in both current and emerging technologies in radiation oncology, as well as the ability to provide compassionate, hands-on patient care. At COD, radiation therapy students will find: 

• Dedicated instructors with years of professional experience.
• Affordable courses to help you achieve success without creating overwhelming debt or draining your savings account.
• Small class sizes to ensure you receive personalized attention.
• State-of-the-art equipment using COD’s Virtual Environment for Radio Therapy.
• To treat cancer, giving students clinical experience needed to enter the field.

Radiation Therapy, Certificate

Upon successful completion of the Radiation Therapy certificate, students are eligible to become certified by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and practice as Radiation Therapy Technologists. Certification is through the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT), licensure is required for employment in the field in the state of Illinois through the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA). This certificate requires 39 credits in the courses listed below.

Radiation Therapy program graduates will:

• Demonstrate knowledge of written and oral communication
• Demonstrate ability to maintain written records of treatment administered
• Demonstrate ability to perform mathematical calculation of treatment times and radiation doses
• Demonstrate knowledge of topographical and cross-sectional anatomy and localization of anatomical structures and treatment sites
• Demonstrate knowledge of radiation physics applied in the practice of radiation therapy technology
• Demonstrate ability to operate radiation producing equipment in all phases of treatment set-up and delivery
• Demonstrate capability of interpretation of isodose summations and treatment plans prepared by hand or by computer for the set-up of the patient and the delivery of the treatment prescription
• Demonstrate verification of correctness of delivery and provision of consistent daily treatment set-up and recognition of and corrective action taken for errors in calculation and/or delivery of a course of treatment
• Demonstrate knowledge of proper utilization of treatment accessories in the delivery of a planned treatment
• Demonstrate proper utilization of immobilization and beam directional devices
• Demonstrate proper utilization of procedures for protection from sources of radiation exposure
• Demonstrate ability to provide basic nursing care and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation
• Demonstrate ability to provide psychological support and awareness of patterns of physical and emotional stress exhibited by cancer patients
• Demonstrate ability to recognize the patient’s clinical progress, symptoms of disease progression, the complications and side-effects of a treatment course and initiation of the processes of consultation with the physician responsible for their care
• Demonstrate the proper use of body mechanics in guiding and/or assisting the patient to move to and from the standing position, wheelchair, or cart to the treatment table in a safe manner
• Demonstrate the ability to interact in a professional manner with other health care personnel involved in the treatment of the patient  

Radiation therapists are highly skilled medical specialists educated in physics, radiation safety, patient anatomy and patient care. Radiation Therapists administer targeted doses of radiation to the patients body to treat cancer and other diseases. As the radiation strikes human tissue, it produces highly energized ions that gradually shrink and destroy the nucleus of malignant tumor cells.

Duties of radiation therapists may include reviewing prescription and diagnosis; acting as a liaison with the physician and supportive care personnel; preparing equipment, such as immobilization, treatment and protection devices; and maintaining records, reports and files. They may also assist in dosimetry procedures and tumor localization. Radiation therapists typically see their patients three to five days a week throughout a four- to seven-week treatment plan.

Members of this profession mainly work in hospitals, clinics and treatment centers under the supervision of two other medical specialists, namely medical dosimetrists and radiation oncologists, to determine how much radiation will be delivered to a tumor site, the best course of therapy and to plan a treatment.

Yes, in addition to enrolling at College of DuPage, a student must also complete a separate admissions process for this program. For details about this process, see the Radiation Therapy application packet. The Radiation Therapy Technology program has a limited enrollment (approximately 20 to 25 students) and has an early admission deadline of July of each year.

This one-year program starts fall semester, with clinicals on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (eight-hour days) and didactic class work at the College of DuPage main campus on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.