![\"Radiation](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/04222025-3888.jpg\")
Radiation Therapy Program Director Kelsey Hoffman, center right, said clinical experiences are intentionally integrated with classroom instruction so students can immediately connect concepts to patient care while offering real-world experiential learning.<\/p><\/div>\n
Senior Jordan Beam transferred to UToledo specifically to take part in the program.<\/p>\n
“The biggest eye-opening experience for me has been being able to communicate with and be a support system for the patients,” Beam said. “We’re actually getting to talk to them and be with them every day throughout their treatment. Building that relationship with the patients has been great, and it’s a huge role as a radiation therapist.”<\/p>\n
Radiation therapists work closely with cancer patients and healthcare teams to deliver radiation treatments, often seeing the same patients daily over several weeks, a continuity of care that drew Beam to the field.<\/p>\n
“It’s unlike any other healthcare profession because you are getting to see these patients every day for weeks at a time and be their support system throughout one of the hardest times of their lives,” she said.<\/p>\n
The program spent five years in development before welcoming its first professional-track students in fall 2025. Students complete prerequisite coursework during their first two years on Main Campus before moving to Health Science Campus for specialized courses and clinical education during their junior and senior years.<\/p>\n
Radiation Therapy Program Director Kelsey Hoffman said clinical experiences are intentionally integrated with classroom instruction so students can immediately connect concepts to patient care while offering real-world experiential learning.<\/p>\n
“We teach concepts in class but, until students are out in clinic seeing these things happen in the real world, they’re not able to put all of those pieces together,” Hoffman said.<\/p>\n
![\"Prospective](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/UToledo-Radiation-Therapy-Program.jpg\")
Prospective students hear from current students, Jordan Beam and Erin McNamara, in the UToledo Radiation Therapy Program.<\/p><\/div>\n
The program currently has affiliation agreements with 16 clinical sites across Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, with additional partnerships in development, rotating students each semester to ensure exposure to varied clinical environments, technologies and patient populations.<\/p>\n
The program has since received full accreditation, marking another important milestone as it prepares to expand professional-track enrollment and train the next generation of radiation therapists.<\/p>\n
Hoffman said the program was established in response to a shortage of radiation therapists both regionally and nationally, creating a need for additional educational programs to help build the workforce.<\/p>\n
On Thursday evening, the program hosted its first open house at the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center, giving prospective students an opportunity to learn more about radiation therapy, meet faculty and see the clinical resources available to students as they prepare for the profession.<\/p>\n
Hoffman said UToledo was well positioned to develop the program given its existing healthcare infrastructure, including the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center and medical physics programs on Health Science Campus.<\/p>\n
For Beam, the experience has confirmed she chose the right path.<\/p>\n
“We are making a difference in these patients’ lives,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it’s a very rewarding career that we’re going into.\u201d<\/p>\n
The inaugural cohort began with eight students. The program will now admit up to 15 students each academic year. For more information, visit the Bachelor of Science in\u00a0Radiation Therapy webpage.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Students are gaining hands-on experience across regional cancer centers while helping address a growing workforce need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":932,"featured_media":100686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,581,97,38,1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100684"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/932"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100684"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100687,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100684\/revisions\/100687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Radiation](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/04222025-3888-150x150.jpg\")
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