Therapeutic Radiography- what if i hate physics?

Hii! I'm looking into a career in therapeutic radiography- I love biology and chemistry, but I really don't like physics, and I'm not good at it AT ALL. Is this important? Will this career, or the degree, involve a lot of physics? Is there a different career option that might be better for me? Thanks for your help guys!

Reply 1

HellomynameisNev

11

Original post by pineapplez

Hii! I'm looking into a career in therapeutic radiography- I love biology and chemistry, but I really don't like physics, and I'm not good at it AT ALL. Is this important? Will this career, or the degree, involve a lot of physics? Is there a different career option that might be better for me? Thanks for your help guys!

Hi Pineapplez, there is definitely some physics, it can't be denied. However, you say you love chemistry, well there's a lot of physics in chemistry too! I did my first degree in chemistry and about 1/3 of that was Physical Chemistry.

I'm a 2nd year student at SHU, and most of the physics was in the 1st year, basically just the foundational principles of protons, neutrons, electrons, x-rays and how they interact. The lecturers know that all the students have come from different backgrounds - some straight from A-levels (and not all have done A Level physics), some after doing an access course, some like me doing a 2nd degree, and they tailor the teaching accordingly. After that first module, there's not been much new physics tbh, just applying what we learnt in the 1st year.

The guy who teaches that module at SHU is an amazing lecturer and puts loads of effort into helping everyone. At the end of the day, if its your weakest module you only have to get a pass (40%) to proceed - and that module is 50% anatomy as well, so if you love biology you're already halfway there lol. There are loads of other non-physics related modules - lots of oncology related ones, professionalism, placement related, interprofessional collaboration, how to assess research etc.

When you're on placement, it's not as physics heavy as you'd expect. Again, there's like an application of the basic principles, but it's not physics heavy unless you want to go into dosimetry or treatment planning. As a student the staff are more interested in your work ethic, how involved you are, how you are with the patients, how quickly you can spot when there's an issue etc.

So yeah, there's plenty of people in my cohort who would tell you that physics is their worst subject but they managed to get through it. I would definitely say that I was expecting the course to be full of physics nerds, but that is absolutely not the case. What's more important is that you want to work with people and that you want to help people with cancer to get better. It's an absolutely amazing job.

If you haven't already, try and arrange a work experience with your local radiotherapy department. I had to organise mine through SHU. Any more questions, feel free to ask!

Reply 2

pineapplez

OP

4

Original post by HellomynameisNev

Hi Pineapplez, there is definitely some physics, it can't be denied. However, you say you love chemistry, well there's a lot of physics in chemistry too! I did my first degree in chemistry and about 1/3 of that was Physical Chemistry.

I'm a 2nd year student at SHU, and most of the physics was in the 1st year, basically just the foundational principles of protons, neutrons, electrons, x-rays and how they interact. The lecturers know that all the students have come from different backgrounds - some straight from A-levels (and not all have done A Level physics), some after doing an access course, some like me doing a 2nd degree, and they tailor the teaching accordingly. After that first module, there's not been much new physics tbh, just applying what we learnt in the 1st year.

The guy who teaches that module at SHU is an amazing lecturer and puts loads of effort into helping everyone. At the end of the day, if its your weakest module you only have to get a pass (40%) to proceed - and that module is 50% anatomy as well, so if you love biology you're already halfway there lol. There are loads of other non-physics related modules - lots of oncology related ones, professionalism, placement related, interprofessional collaboration, how to assess research etc.

When you're on placement, it's not as physics heavy as you'd expect. Again, there's like an application of the basic principles, but it's not physics heavy unless you want to go into dosimetry or treatment planning. As a student the staff are more interested in your work ethic, how involved you are, how you are with the patients, how quickly you can spot when there's an issue etc.

So yeah, there's plenty of people in my cohort who would tell you that physics is their worst subject but they managed to get through it. I would definitely say that I was expecting the course to be full of physics nerds, but that is absolutely not the case. What's more important is that you want to work with people and that you want to help people with cancer to get better. It's an absolutely amazing job.

If you haven't already, try and arrange a work experience with your local radiotherapy department. I had to organise mine through SHU. Any more questions, feel free to ask!