Radiotherapy careers open day taking place on Saturday 6 September 2025
Radiotherapy colleagues at UHDB will be hosting a special Radiotherapy careers open day on Saturday 6 September 2025 at Royal Derby Hospital (RDH) — open to members of the public and fellow NHS colleagues alike.
This will be help in our RDH site's Radiotherapy department, located on Level 0, across two sessions — 9.30am to 11am, and 11.30am to 1pm.
This is a great opportunity for those who are interested in a career in the technical and caring profession of radiotherapy to learn more about typical career paths, see the cutting-edge equipment we have here at UHDB in action and how it is used to treat our patients (including the surface guided radiotherapy treatment), and meet with Sheffield Hallam University to hear about the courses they have on offer (specifically, Degree Apprenticeship: Therapeutic Radiography, BSc (Hons) and Pre-registration MSc Radiotherapy and Oncology).
Each year, our dedicated colleagues support several students on their placements through the BSc degree program and through degree apprenticeships, to help provide the next generation of therapeutic radiographers receive the best training and real-world experience to enhance their knowledge and expertise.
Lindsay Sparks is the Practice Educator for the Therapeutic Radiographer Apprenticeship and Work-based Mentor in Radiotherapy supporting students through their placements, and she said the experience they get while being at the hospital is invaluable to their ongoing development:
"Getting hands on experience is so important as it helps to supplement the academic side of the degree courses by helping students to fully grasp the complexities of what is involved in being a therapeutic radiographer.
"The next generation [of therapeutic radiographers] is so important and will play a vital role in the healthcare of our future patients, and we take great pride in providing them with the best possible training and experience to help them in the early stages of their careers.
"Students here get access to cutting-edge technology, including surface guided radiotherapy (SGRT) which isn't available that widely across the NHS, so getting to see this and learn about this treatment method first-hand is invaluable."
As well as giving students an insight into equipment and the treatment methods our teams use to treat our patients, the team also helps to give students wider exposure to the whole patient pathway.
Students get to spend time working in areas such as chemotherapy and ward areas to help them fully understand the entirety of the cancer patient pathway, giving them broader experience to help supplement their studies.
Lindsay added: "We try to give students a well-rounded view of the patient experience and let them see the whole patient pathway so they can fully understand what our patients experience, which is really important in helping them to build their understanding but also in giving students insights into other areas of the Trust."
There are two routes into becoming a therapeutic radiographer: by completing a traditional degree and degree apprenticeship. The former is more academic whereas the degree apprenticeship offers a substantive post upon completion and training is based more in the hospital and means you earn a salary while learning - these different options suit different styles of learning but result in exactly the same qualification.