The Radiotherapy Technology Course is a four year integrated program consisting of both academic learning and practical training as internship for one year, in order to integrate theory with practice. This Course is affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University and recognized by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Govt of India.

At the end of the course, the candidates acquire sufficient knowledge, expertise and understanding of the functioning of human body, the disease process, basics of Radiation Therapy Physics and Oncology, Radiobiology, Knowledge of various malignant diseases and its management principally with Radiotherapy techniques and Radiation safety

The Radiotherapy technologist will be capable of using wide range of Radiation Therapy equipments (Teletherapy, Brachytherapy, Simulators) and learn the process of Treatment simulation and mould room techniques.

• The students shall get hands on learning in operating ultra modern radiotherapy equipments like high energy linear accelerator (Elekta, Infinity), high dose rate brachytherapy system (Elekta, Flexitron), Mould room equipments, dosimetry tools, QA tools and Record and verification systems (MOSAIQ).

• Linear Accelerator: The students get trained in a high energy linear accelerator (Elekta, Infinity) which is the advanced state-of-art facility with 6MV, 10 MV, 15MV & 6FFF photon energies and five electron energies. The Agility head of the linac is a more versatile multileaf collimator with a leaf thickness of 5mm for a maximum field opening of 40x 40 cm2. This enables the treatment of more than one targets in a single go without compromising the normal tissue sparring. This unit is capable of delivering high precision radiotherapy techniques like SRS, SRT, VMAT and SBRT in addition to the regular conformal treatments like 3DCRT, IMRT & IGRT. The Deep Inspiration Breath Hold technique with ABC (Active Breath Co-ordinator) is the first of its kind in the state.

• CT Simulation: It is the primary step before planning the actual radiation treatment. The students are equipped knowledge on handling a CT machine (Siemens, Somatom.Go.Now) for acquiring CT data of the cancer patient in treatment position set which is then used for treatment planning. A CT scan is performed to acquire the anatomy of the reference treatment site which is also used to identify the tumor region and the surrounding normal tissues. The student learns to simulate the treatment position of the patient, specific to the disease site and learn the vital role of the technologists in delivering radiation treatment to the patients with accuracy.

• Mould room: The learner gains adequate knowledge in handling the variety of mould room equipments in our department where the customized thermoplastic masks, vacuum cushions and different immobilization devices, for patients receiving radiation therapy are prepared. These immobilization gadgets keep the patient to remain still and reproduce their position everyday and delivering radiation precisely.

• Image Guidance: The students gets trained in in-room imaging facilities like Electronic Portal Imaging system and Kilo voltage Cone Beam CT to image the patient prior to treatment for the patient position verification and helps to avoid set up errors.

• Brachytherapy: The learners also get trained in an internal radiation therapy technique called as brachytherapy which uses sealed radioactive sources placed within or near the tumor which delivers a high dose of radiation to the target. Our institution is equipped with a High Dose Rate Brachytherapy unit (Elekta, Flexitron) loaded with Iridium-192 as the radioactive source. It is  designed to deliver precise, localized doses of radiation to tumors while minimizing exposure to healthy tissue The various types of brachytherapy techniques used in our department are Intracavitary brachytherapy, Interstitial brachytherapy, Intraluminal radiation therapy, Surface Mould brachytherapy.

• Employment opportunities are widespread for radiotherapy candidates and are as follows

  • Clinical Radiotherapy Technologists in healthcare institutions with Radiotherapy facilities in both public and private sectors and also in standalone Radiotherapy centers. Based on their interests, performance and experience one can reach the positions of senior Radiotherapy Technologist to Chief radiotherapy technologist.

  • Application Specialists in the Manufacturing/Service sectors of Radiotherapy/ Radiological equipment's. One can reach heights as an Executive Manager.

  • Medical Coders in hospital where the program equips the candidates with knowledge in radiotherapy medical coding.

  • Overseas opportunities

  • Higher education options are open to pursue

    • Masters in Radiotherapy

    • PG in business administration

The Tamil Nadu Dr.M.G.R. Medical University

The course is approved by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Government of India.

A pass in Higher Secondary Course (+2) with Physics, Chemistry & Biology or an equivalent froma recognized board of school examination with minimum of 45% of marks in each subjects.

Candidates those who are NOT native State of Tamil Nadu/ COMPLETED their higher secondary course or equivalent other than Tamil Nadu, shall obtain an Eligibility Certificate from the Tamil Nadu Dr.M.G.R Medical University, Chennai prior to admission, which is mandatory.