Nuclear medicine training requires a high school diploma or equivalent, prerequisite courses, and completion of an admissions form. Courses cover radiopharmaceuticals, computer imaging, and hands-on field experience, including radiation safety, radionuclides, and imaging technologies. Internship experiences are also required.
The field of nuclear medicine is an area of healthcare that deals with providing patients with radioactive drugs to help see troubled parts of their bodies using imaging devices. To enter a nuclear medicine training program, an individual must have a high school diploma or equivalent certification and complete an admissions form. Prerequisite courses such as math and chemistry, as well as physics and biology, are also a requirement before a student can enroll in industry-specific courses. Nuclear medicine courses cover radiopharmaceuticals and computer imaging, as well as providing students with hands-on field experience.
One of the many types of nuclear medicine courses available is a radiation class. While in this class, the student will learn how to properly throw away, pack and work with radioactive substances. In addition, students study how to use tools that monitor radiation levels and gain knowledge on how to calculate radiation doses to patients. Classes teach regional and national radiation standards and prepare students to deal with related disasters as well. Gaining an understanding of how radiation can harm the body is an important topic in this course.
Nuclear medicine courses also include a class on radionuclides, which are radioactive substances injected into the body to make a body scan work effectively. Students in a course on radionuclides and radiopharmaceuticals study methods for making organs more visible on scans when dealing with various disease conditions. The purpose of this class is to help an aspiring nuclear medicine technologist help physicians collect the information necessary to draw legitimate medical diagnostic conclusions.
The development of computing and imaging skills is another subject studied in the field of nuclear medicine. Nuclear medicine imaging courses allow students to master the use of imaging technologies as well as proper methods for processing radiographic film and taking radiographs. Students gain detailed information about what happens when matter and X-rays come into contact with each other. Learning how to identify problems such as tumors and determine cancer stages using positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) images is a valuable part of this course.
Several nuclear medicine courses require students to also complete internship experiences. While in these classes, students help perform different diagnostic tasks and use computers for imaging purposes. By the end of the program, they are trained enough to perform complex nuclear medicine practices independently under the supervision of an experienced nuclear medicine technologist. In addition, students practice completing industry quality assurance program requirements.
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