What is the difference in education between a radiation technician and a radiation therapy technologist?

the only majors i see at schools are for Radiation Technology, not therapy. can i still become a radiation therapist following that path? if not, what must i do?What is the difference in education between a radiation technician and a radiation therapy technologist?
If you're interested in becoming a radiation therapist, I'd recommend it. It's a very worthwhile career.



To answer your question, radiation therapists usually have to have a specialist degree in radiation therapy (i.e. you can't take it as a major in another degree). There is then normally a training program at an actual hospital to get fully accredited.



Different jurisdictions have different professional bodies that regulate the qualifications that RT's need to have. You should find out who is responsible for that where you live. Their website will usually have an outline of the training requirements for radiation therapy, and a list of degrees that are accredited for the job where you live. If it doesn't explicitly say this on the website, there should be a contact address to find out more. If there are links to universities that offer those degrees, those universities will also be able to tell you what degree you need.



Try googling "radiation therapy [wherever you live]" to find out more.



Note: radiation oncologists (the doctors who proscribe radiation therapy) are different to RT's (who actually give the treatments). To become an RO, you need to be a doctor and specialise. Also, if you have any interest in physics, another option would be to become a clinical physicist. They're more involved in treatment planning and/or maintaining the machines than actually giving the treatment (as you can probably guess, the whole process is quite complicated).