BY ASHLEY BAKER, FEATURES EDITOR
With Bellarmine’s continued growth, the school has made adding additional opportunities a priority on campus. After the closing of St. Catharine’s College, Bellarmine gained a unique program from the school: radiation therapy.
Radiation therapy is primarily used for the treatment of cancer patients. This is a four-year program that prepares students to be fully qualified radiation therapists after graduation.
According to St. Catharine’s web site, “The therapist works closely with the Radiation Oncologists, Medical Physicists, Dosimetrists and other members of the radiation oncology care team to effectively design and treat cancer or other disorders, in addition to managing the patient’s well-being.”
Because the radiation therapy program was the only one of its kind in Kentucky at St. Catharine’s, Bellarmine now owns that title. The program is important because the state has a great need for radiation therapists. With the number of cancer patients rising to 10,000 per year, there is a clear need for more therapists to treat them.
“The field of radiation therapy is small with only 17,000 practicing professionals in the United States. Historically, radiation oncology centers in Kentucky have staffing problems because of high turnover rates, especially in rural areas.” according to the Bellarmine University radiation therapy course description.
Original St. Catharine students are the only students enrolled in the radiation therapy program. Carol Scherbak, a radiation therapy professor, said there has been interest already developing for the new program.
“Yes, I have seen interest. We have explained to them that the program is just a teach out,” Scherbak said. “So the only students who can be in the program at this point in time are St. Catherine’s students.”
Despite this, Scherbak is working to make radiation therapy a major for all students to have the opportunity to study.
“Our programmatic accreditor has already approved the transfer of the program to here,” Scherbak said. “As far as the programmatic accreditor goes, this is a part of Bellarmine. However, SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) governs the curriculum here. I don’t think there should be any problem as far as talking to university administration. I think everyone at SACS will approve this addition.”
The only downside to the program is expensive equipment. Without it, students cannot get the experience needed for a job. Bellarmine purchased the virtual reality technology from St. Catharine’s. Dr. Doris Tegart states, “We got the radiation program for a fraction of the cost.” The equipment’s original cost was over $2 million.
This equipment is what truly sets the major apart. The VERT technology allows students to be in a clinical setting with virtual patients.
“This equipment allows the student to practice psychomotor skills and gain insights regarding treatment philosophy and radiation interactions in the human body in a safe and controlled environment,” according to a course description sent in by Scherbak. “Faculty can also create scenarios which facilitate student problem solving and critical thinking skills to student enhance learning in the clinical environment.”
This program gives them room to truly practice all aspects of the technology and to see the effect their treatments will have on their patients. It allows for a lot of one-on-one practice time for the students, which gives them the advantage of absorbing information in this realistic setting.
The virtual reality technology allows the user to fully experience what it would be like to be in a hospital setting. Students hear the sounds that the technology will make in real life.
They also are able to see the direct effects of their virtual treatments on the virtual patients, and that corresponds to real life.
“The nice thing is that they can train in a completely safe environment where it’s okay to make mistakes,” Scherbak said.
Students have the advantage of seeing the effects of their decisions in this setting and making adjustments.