Medical Dosimetry Program

Department of Radiation Oncology > Medical Dosimetry Program

The Department of Radiation Oncology at UC Irvine School of Medicine offers a one-year training program in Medical Dosimetry to qualify candidates.

Candidates must have:

A Bachelor’s Degree in Radiation Therapy or Equivalent.
At least 3-years of full time working experience as a radiation therapist in a radiation oncology clinic (no exceptions will be made).

At the present time, an 8-year accreditation of the UC Irvine Medical Dosimetry Program has been awarded by Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) effective October 2018.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Medical Dosimetry Program is to provide the necessary knowledge base and clinical skills such that upon successful completion the graduating student is able to function safely and competently as an independent Medical Dosimetrist and contribute to the profession and health care of the public. Furthermore, the graduating student should be fully prepared to take, and pass, the medical dosimetry certification board (MDCB) examination.

Medical Dosimetry Program Goals

Goal 1

A graduating student should be able to function safely, competent and with minimum supervision as an entry-level medical dosimetrist.

Outcomes:

The student will have knowledge of treatment planning using basic as well as advanced treatment techniques.
The student will have knowledge, understanding and implementation of treatment protocol parameters.
The student will have knowledge, understanding and implementation of simple hand calculations pertaining to emergency simulation-and-treatment cases.
The student will have knowledge, understanding and handling of record-and-verify systems.

Goal 2

A graduating student will possess the necessary knowledge for critical thinking and problem-solving skills to situations that may be encounter in the clinic.
Outcomes:

The student will have the knowledge to recommend/advise the physician on whether a specific treatment technique may be more suitable for a patient identifying pros and cons of the recommended technique.
The student will have the knowledge and confidence to work with therapists and physicists on the most efficient patient setup for a special treatment procedure.

Goal 3

A graduating student will possess the skills to communicate effectively with any member of the radiation oncology team regarding any circumstance that involves a patient treatment.

Outcomes:

Oral presentations and written reports on self-study projects given during training should prepare the student for this task.
One-on-one presentation of a plan to a physician and justifying the process used to generate that plan, all part of the dosimetry training, should help with the student’s communication skills.

Goal 4

A graduating student will possess the understanding, appreciation and need for continuing education and patient confidentiality.
Outcomes:

Continuing education and patient confidentiality through HIPPAA and other training are the core fundamentals not only of the medical dosimetry program but the UCI Radiation Oncology Department as a whole.

Upon successful completion of the program the Medical Dosimetry student would have met all eligibility requirements for the certification examination offered by the Medical Dosimetrist Certification Board.

Organization

The Medical Dosimetry Program is administered by the Division of Medical Physics within the Department of Radiation Oncology. The program is designed to offer the student a rigorous didactic as well as practical training as shown in the program’s curricula. Since 2015, the Medical Dosimetry Program will accept one student a year. Refer to the Medical Dosimetry Handbook for tuition and other related information.

The practical training includes 3D-CRT, IMRT, VMAT, IGRT, SRS, SBRT and simple linac-based external beam planning; high-dose-rate brachytherapy planning for gynecological treatments (e.g. tandem and ovoids, CAPRI applicator, interstitial) and accelerated partial breast irradiation treatments (e.g. SAVI, Mammosite).

The program offers a great opportunity to interact with radiation oncologists and medical physics residents who can provide a collegial learning environment.

Completion Rate, Pass Rate and Job Placement

Since 2007-2012 the Medical Dosimetry Program at UC Irvine has had 5 Medical Dosimetry students that completed the program successfully. All five students passed the MDCB examination at first attempt and all of them are currently employed. The Table below summarizes this information.

Year	# of Students	Program Completion Rate	MDCB Passed at 1^st Attempt			MDCB Passed at 2^nd Attempt	Employed within 6-months
2007	1	100%	1 (100%)			None	1
2008	No students recruited. Commissioning of new equipment and treatment planning software.
2009
2010	No students recruited. Re-structuring of Medical Dosimetry Program.
2011	2	100%	2 (100%)			None	2
2012	2	100%	2 (100%)			None	2
2013	No students recruited. JRCERT certification in progress.
2014	No students recruited. JRCERT certification in progress.
2015	Recruitment Re-Opened
2017	1	100%		1 (100%)	None			1

Five-year average passing rate 100%. Five-year average job placement 100%.

2018-2019 Medical Dosimetry Student Recruitment

Acceptance of application documents for the 2018-2019 Medical Dosimetry Program will start on April 1, 2019. Interviews of selected candidates are expected in May 2019. Final decision of the selected candidate will be announced by mid-June 2018. Click here to see advertisement.

Please click here for the application.