Radiation Therapist Jobs
Radiation therapist jobs are abundant and the field is a growing one. The career choice is not for everyone, though, as it can be quite draining to work with cancer patients on a regular basis. You have to have the right characteristics in order to not experience burnout in a very short time. One thing that will help avoid burnout is to work in an environment that will be most comfortable to you.
The majority of the radiation therapist jobs that are available will be in general hospitals, cancer hospitals and cancer treatment centers. Generally speaking, these jobs will be 40-hour daytime positions as treatments are typically scheduled. However, in some cases, a radiation therapist may be required to be on call or work nights. That will depend on the hospital or cancer center policies, of course.
There are two things that will very likely be different at each of the three basic settings for finding radiation therapist jobs—the patients that you work with and the salary that you command. With patients, you are far more likely to deal with more of the very sickest patients in cancer treatment centers than you will in the other two environments. If you work in a specialized facility, such as a children's hospital, you will naturally be working with children all day. On the other hand, a hospital that focuses on geriatrics will have you working with the elderly.
Salary tends to climb with specialization—that's true of pretty much any industry. In health care, salary also will tend to range depending on the type of setting you work in. General hospitals are far more likely to be at the lower end of the payscale for radiation therapist jobs as they are usually the most budget-conscious type of facility. The higher end of the salary range tends to be at the privately run, for-profit cancer treatment centers.
Radiation therapist jobs are not limited to just running the equipment and helping with the treatment plans. Particularly in large hospitals or the cancer treatment centers, there will often be an entire team made up of several therapists. These teams will need managers so that's another position to consider. Those jobs in management will entail having experience at the actual job as well as managerial and supervisory skills.
The outlook for radiation therapist jobs is very bright. As we said in the beginning of this article, the field is definitely growing. According to the Dept. of Labor, projected growth is 27% through 2018.
