How To Become A Lead Radiation Therapist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a lead radiation therapist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A lead radiation therapist administers radiation therapy to patients with cancer. They may also perform imaging services using X-ray equipment and other types of machinery. And since this is a leadership position, a lead radiation therapist is also responsible for managing subordinate employees.

Other specific duties of a lead radiation therapist include training new employees, communicating with other health professionals to improve patient treatment, explaining procedures to patients, and ensuring that all safety and health requirements are met. They may also be responsible for generating departmental reports, updating employee records, and managing budgets.

Before one can become a lead radiation therapist, one would need a degree in a relevant field and substantial experience in the radiation department. Furthermore, a lead radiation therapist must have proven proficiency in leadership, communication, and maintaining safety protocols of all radiation procedures.

The job of a lead radiation therapist pays well. On average, one can earn around $100,000 per year, which is fair compensation considering the inherent risks of the job as well as the critical duties that it entails.

ScoreLead Radiation TherapistUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $79,332

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.9

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.66%

Asian 5.90%

Black or African American 5.85%

Hispanic or Latino 9.20%

Unknown 8.68%

White 69.71%

Gender

female 63.84%

male 36.16%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

9.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead radiation therapist

Explore lead radiation therapist education requirements

Most common lead radiation therapist degrees

Associate

37.7 %

Bachelor's

34.4 %

Certificate

19.2 %

Start to develop specific lead radiation therapist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	22.58%
Radiation Therapy	12.69%
Oncology	8.00%
Patient Treatment	6.54%
QA	4.92%

Complete relevant lead radiation therapist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead radiation therapists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a lead radiation therapist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead radiation therapist resumes.

Research lead radiation therapist duties and responsibilities

Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Initiate and organize graduation celebration for all patients finishing radiation treatments.
Administer invasive and non-invasive therapeutic radiation via cutting edge radiotherapy devices to cancer patients as directed by physician prescription.
Perform daily QA on all equipment to factory safety standards and department policies and procedures.

Get lead radiation therapist experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a lead radiation therapist. The most common roles before becoming a lead radiation therapist include radiation therapist, staff radiation therapist team lead and radiologic technician.

Prepare your lead radiation therapist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your lead radiation therapist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a lead radiation therapist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable lead radiation therapist resume templates

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