Careers in Radiotherapy

Careers in Therapeutic Radiography

Radiotherapy is the use of high-energy x-rays to treat disease, usually cancer.

Our therapeutic radiographers are specialist healthcare professionals who are highly-trained in the planning and delivery of treatment. It’s a challenging and exciting career that requires in-depth knowledge of anatomy and physiology, oncology (cancer medicine), radiotherapy physics and technology as well as excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

To qualify as a therapeutic radiographer, you must first have completed an undergraduate or postgraduate university course in radiotherapy.

At The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, we’re proud to be one of the UK’s leading training sites for both undergraduate and postgraduate radiotherapy students. Our students combine their studies at the University of Liverpool with clinical placement here with us. It’s a fantastic opportunity for them to spend around half the course gaining real-life practical experience and applying their academic knowledge in clinical care in one of the largest and most prestigious radiotherapy departments in England.

During their time here, students have the opportunity to work at all three of our cancer centres. Our main site is in Liverpool and our two satellite centres are in Wirral and Aintree. All students are well supported by the Radiotherapy Clinical Tutor and the Radiotherapy Education team.

When qualified, therapeutic radiographers generally work in regional radiotherapy centres. Here they gain a breadth of experience that covers all aspects of pre-treatment and treatment. Once experienced, many radiographers choose to follow a more specialised career path. Career opportunities include paediatric treatment, on-treatment review, treatment imaging and education to name a few. Some therapeutic radiographers choose to work overseas in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Australia and Canada.

If you are interested in a career in radiotherapy we would love to hear from you. Please send an email to ccf-tr.clinicaleducation@nhs.net expressing an interest in radiotherapy and one of the team will get in touch

You can find out more about careers in radiotherapy at the following links:

University of Liverpool radiotherapy courses

NHS Careers: Radiotherapy

Society of Radiographers: Careers pages

Society of Radiographers website