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I am employed as a Radiation Therapist at one of Tulsa's largest
cancer
centers. I give radiation treatments to around forty cancer patients
a day.
Our center alone treats between eighty and one hundred patients
on an
average day. I am responsible for checking the accuracy of the linear
accelerators before any patient is treated, helping the physician
to
determine to best way to treat a patient, measuring the area to
be treated,
daily treatments, and any problems the patient may have while under
my care.
We work in teams of two therapists to avoid errors, and for efficiency.
I became interested in the medical field while still in High School.
Radiation Therapy was something I had not even ever heard of until
I began
to look into Radiography (taking of X-rays). After I became interested
in
Radiography, I began to look into the special fields associated
with it.
Radiation Therapy appealed to me because of the daily interactions
with
patients, and the long-term results.
Being from a small town, I was very fortunate to be able to take
advantage
of community college classes during my senior year of high school.
This
helped not only to shorten my path to graduation, but also looked
good on
applications to Radiation Therapy schools. After high school, I
received my
Associates degree in Radiography from Parsons, Kansas and sat for
the
Radiography boards. I was already
accepted into the University Of Kansas Medical Center's school of
Radiation
Therapy program, so I went straight into Therapy school. I graduated
and
took the boards in 1992.
Even before graduation, I accepted a position at St. John Hospital
in Tulsa,
and have been there for nine years. I also do some temp work at
other
centers in Tulsa when my schedule permits. Going to school full-time,
and
working as much as possible was very hard, but I knew I
just had to tough it out for a few years to get the career I wanted.
I was
fortunate in that I was able to use my Radiography to find a job
that would
both support my school schedule and financial needs.
Although working with cancer patients everyday seems like a depressing
job,
it really is not. Seeing a patient come back after years and tell
us how
wonderful they feel makes it all seem worthwhile. Of course, not
all
patients have such a happy ending, but over time you really do learn
to deal
with it better and better. We develop a relationship with our patients
that
few people in the medical field have. I know that I am making a
difference
in a patient's life, which can be both stressful and rewarding.
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