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Radiation engineer vs radiation therapist

The differences between radiation engineers and radiation therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a radiation engineer has an average salary of $95,529, which is higher than the $84,981 average annual salary of a radiation therapist.

The top three skills for a radiation engineer include data collection, ITAR and CMOS. The most important skills for a radiation therapist are patients, patient care, and radiation oncologist.

Radiation engineer vs radiation therapist overview

Radiation EngineerRadiation Therapist
Yearly salary$95,529$84,981
Hourly rate$45.93$40.86
Growth rate-11%6%
Number of jobs25,30539,384
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Associate Degree, 40%
Average age4342
Years of experience-2

What does a radiation engineer do?

Quality/reliability engineers oversee reliability assessment and management of operations that impact products and businesses. The career calls for individuals with speaking, mechanical, writing, and troubleshooting skills, as well as a background in Java. All of this will be useful as they will help in highlighting any failures or issues. Understanding manufacturing, design principles, and computer-aided design is important for the role.

What does a radiation therapist do?

A radiation therapist is a medical professional who works in hospitals or cancer treatment centers and treats cancer and other diseases in patients by giving radiation treatments. Radiation therapists are required to explain the treatment plans to patients as well as conduct x-ray tests on patients to determine the exact location of the area that requires treatment. They must examine radiation machines to ensure that they are safe and working properly. Radiation therapists must also follow safety procedures to protect patients and themselves from overexposure.

Radiation engineer vs radiation therapist salary

Radiation engineers and radiation therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Radiation EngineerRadiation Therapist
Average salary$95,529$84,981
Salary rangeBetween $73,000 And $124,000Between $63,000 And $113,000
Highest paying City-Los Angeles, CA
Highest paying state-Mississippi
Best paying company-Cedars-Sinai
Best paying industry--

Differences between radiation engineer and radiation therapist education

There are a few differences between a radiation engineer and a radiation therapist in terms of educational background:

Radiation EngineerRadiation Therapist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Associate Degree, 40%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringBiochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Biology
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityDuke University

Radiation engineer vs radiation therapist demographics

Here are the differences between radiation engineers' and radiation therapists' demographics:

Radiation EngineerRadiation Therapist
Average age4342
Gender ratioMale, 94.4% Female, 5.6%Male, 34.3% Female, 65.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.5% Asian, 18.3% White, 66.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 8.8% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.5% White, 69.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage5%17%

Differences between radiation engineer and radiation therapist duties and responsibilities

Radiation engineer example responsibilities.

  • Lead technology teams charge with full life cycle development processes involving system requirements and system architecture.
  • Comply with all regulatory mandates for radiation safety and ITAR restrictions.
  • Modele radiation environment using CREME96 and SPENVIS.
  • Conduct geotechnical and environmental subsurface investigations.
  • Conduct geotechnical and environmental subsurface investigations.

Radiation therapist example responsibilities.

  • Manage all payroll, accounts receivable and payable, and maintain complete records of equipment and staff.
  • Manage daily clinical staffing needs by appropriately deploying PRN therapist when need, which save company from employing an additional FTE.
  • Perform SBRT and SRS, and IMRT treatments under the supervision of the physician.
  • Set up patients on treatment machine, port films and IGRT to line up patients.
  • Ensure treatment plans are consistent with oncologist's prescriptions and verify EMR for daily treatment delivery.
  • Monitor patients records through EMR, maintain weekly and monthly reports for the company, maintain and order supplies.
  • Show more

Radiation engineer vs radiation therapist skills

Common radiation engineer skills
  • Data Collection, 70%
  • ITAR, 26%
  • CMOS, 4%
Common radiation therapist skills
  • Patients, 28%
  • Patient Care, 9%
  • Radiation Oncologist, 8%
  • Patient Treatment, 6%
  • Dosimetry, 4%
  • Treatment Planning, 4%

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