The orientation course will provide the student with an
introduction to the department of Nuclear Medicine Technology. The department
procedures will be reviewed. The policies and procedures of the School of Nuclear Medicine,
including the student handbook, will be given to the student and the student
will be held responsible for abiding by the procedures. The student will be
given instruction on basic patient care skills and Venipuncture and starting
IV’s, which includes both classroom instruction and clinical practice. The
student will also be taught basic radiation safety, time, distance and
shielding concepts and how they apply to Nuclear Medicine.
NM
110 Fundamentals of Nuclear Medicine
An introduction to the nuclear medicine department will
be given with a tour and description of each piece of equipment and the routine
exams performed. A review of ALARA and basic radiation safety will be provided
with emphasis placed on radiation protection specific to the nuclear medicine
department. Routine patient care will be reviewed with competency required.
Emergency procedures for the nuclear medicine department will be presented with
emphasis on the Code 99 procedure and location of emergency equipment and
supplies. A review of the mathematic principles used in nuclear medicine will
be provided. A review of computer language with instruction in nuclear medicine
computer literacy will also be included. Extra practice with starting IV’s will
be provided along with basic EKG.
NM
120 Physics I
Physics
I will include a review of the structure of atoms and molecules,
electromagnetic forces, mass/energy conversion, ionization, and excitation. A
study of radionuclides will include nuclear structure, stabilities, radioactive
series, radioactive decay and conversion laws and decay schemes. Radioactivity
will be studied in terms of the exponential decay law, calculation of the mass
of a radioactive sample, specific activity, half-life, and statistics of
radioactive decay. The production of radionuclides will be presented with emphasis
on methods of production and principles of a generator. Detection of radiation
with gas-filled detectors and scintillation detectors will be presented.
In-vitro radiation detection will be studied including well-type detectors and
liquid scintillation detectors. In-vivo radiation detection will include a
study of uptake probes, bone densitometers, gamma cameras, and interfacing with
a computer. The gamma camera will include detail on the collimators, crystal,
position determining circuit, and display. The basic principles of PET will
also be covered.
NM
130 Principles Of Chemistry and Radiochemistry
This
course will cover pH,the pH concept, acids, bases and buffers. It will also
cover the principles of dilutions and dilution calculations. It will cover
solutions, colloids and types of bonds as well as the periodic table. It will
also cover different methods of labeling radiopharmaceuticals.
NM 140 Nuclear Medicine Procedures I
During
this course, the student will study all aspects of nuclear imaging related to
skeletal, cardiac, respiratory and gastrointestinal, genitourinary and
endocrine systems. A review of the anatomy and physiology of these systems will
be included. A study of the pathologic conditions imaged in nuclear medicine
will be presented. The procedures, protocols, instrumentation and
radiopharmaceuticals used in nuclear medicine imaging of these systems will be
studied in detail.
NM
150 Clinical Practicum I
Clinical
practice is used throughout the semester to acquaint the student with the clinical
environment and the nuclear medicine equipment and procedures performed. The
student will perform nuclear medicine examinations during all phases of the
clinical practicum. At first the students will observe and assist the nuclear
medicine technologists. The student must demonstrate competency in performing
nuclear medicine imaging as specified. As the student progresses through the
practicum and gains experience, supervision will be limited providing the
student has passed the appropriate progress checks.
NM
160 Radiobiology I
The radiobiology course will begin with a review of
radiobiology including LET, radiation effects on cell components, cellular
response, tissue response, total body response and late effects. Biological
effect, Equivalent dose and Dose Equivalent will be discussed along with
weighting factors and quality factors. Clinical nuclear medicine will be
studied in terms of the risks, terminology used, and nuclear medicine specifics
such as exposure facts, biological variables, carcinogenesis, and genetic
risks, risks to the embryo and fetus, and therapeutic use of radionuclides.
Occupational exposure will also be studied with emphasis on the basis for MPD
limits.
NM
170 Radiopharmacy I
Radiopharmacy I will consist of a review of the different
modes of radioactive decay. It will include a study of radionuclide production,
principles of radionuclide generators and types of generators, production of
radiopharmaceuticals and quality control of radiopharmaceuticals along with
labeling radiopharmaceuticals with different isotopes. Radiopharmaceuticals
used in clinical use along with the kit preparation and adverse effects will be
reviewed.
NM
180 Nuclear Medicine Procedures II
During this course, the student will study all aspects
related to nervous system, infection and tumor imaging and in-vitro procedures
in nuclear medicine. A review of the anatomy and physiology of these systems
will be included. A study of the pathologic conditions imaged in nuclear
medicine will be presented. The procedures, protocols, and radiopharmaceuticals
used in nuclear medicine imaging of these systems will be studied in detail.
Therapy procedures will be covered to include regulations, purposes of therapy,
precautions and procedure for the therapies. A brief overview of PET/CT will be
included. Pediatric Imaging and imaging considerations for elderly patients
will be focused on in more detail during this course. A review of previous
Nuclear Medicine procedures taught will be given.
NM
190 Clinical Practicum II
Clinical practice is used throughout the semester to
acquaint the student with the clinical environment and the nuclear medicine
equipment and procedures performed. The student will perform nuclear medicine
examinations during all phases of the clinical practicum. At first the students
will observe and assist the nuclear medicine technologists. The student must
demonstrate competency in performing nuclear medicine imaging as specified. As
the student progresses through the practicum and gains experience, supervision
will be limited providing the student has passed the appropriate progress
checks.
CT 100 Multiplanar
Anatomy
This cross sectional
anatomy course will cover cross sectional anatomy to include the head, neck,
chest, abdomen, pelvis, spine and extremities. Axial views of all of these
areas with major bones, organs and vascular structures identified will be a
part of this course. In addition pathology will be covered as it relates to its
presentation on axial images.
CT 110 Patient Care
and Radiation Safety in CT scanning
This course will
cover the patient preparation instructions that are necessary to perform a CT
scan. IV procedures and assessment and monitoring of the patient will be
reviewed. In addition the types of contrast, special considerations with the
use of contrast and the adverse reactions related to contrast administration
will be covered. The technical factors related to radiation safety and ways to
minimize the patient dose will be taught. Education on the special
circumstances such as pediatric and pregnant patients will also be included.
NM
200 Nuclear Medicine Procedures III
More
information on PET, to include oncology, cardiology and neurology will be
provided. Acquisition procedures, radiopharmaceuticals, SUV’s and other
quantitative data related to PET imaging will also be covered. Information on
new research in the field of Nuclear Medicine Technology will be discussed.
CT 120 CT Procedures I
This course in CT
procedures will include instruction on positioning the patient, setting up a
scout view, setting up the equipment to include slice thickness, pitch,
rotation factors and other technical aspects of acquisition set up. When and
how contrast is used to acquire the study and what dose will be used will be
discussed. The various types of reconstruction for CT images will be taught. In
addition special CT procedures such as CTA and biopsies will be included.
Reviewing images for technical quality and the assessment of the need for
additional views will also be included in this course.
CT 130 CT Physics and
Instrumentation I
This
course will include the basics of x-ray production, the nature of x-rays and
the interaction with matter. The construction of the CT scanner and the
evolution from the beginning CT units to modern day units will be discussed.
Image processing and display to include reconstruction, data management and
review of images to determine quality and recognize artifacts will also be
covered. Quality control of the CT scanner will also be included in this
course.
NM
210 Clinical Practicum III
Clinical
practice is used throughout the course to enhance the student's clinical skills
and re-enforce academic material. The student will perform nuclear medicine and
CT examinations during all phases of the clinical practicum. Much more emphasis
will be placed on Nuclear Medicine than CT at this point in the program. As the
student progresses through the practicum and gains experience, more
responsibility will be given to the student.
NM
220 Mathematics in Nuclear Medicine I
This
course will cover direct and inverse proportions, converting pounds to
kilograms, converting between different units of radioactive decay, using logs
and natural logs and graphing. It will also cover statistics related to nuclear
medicine, calculations related to radiation protection, calculations related to
instrumentation and calculations related to Radiopharmacy such as
radiopharmaceutical preparation and dispensing of doses. Mathematics related to
Nuclear Medicine procedures will be covered and will include ejection fraction
calculations, gastroesophageal and gastric emptying calculations, calculations
for voiding cystograms, lung quantification calculations, thyroid uptake
calculations, Schilling’s calculations and plasma, red cell volume and blood
volume calculations.
NM
230 Radiopharmacy II
Radiopharmacy
II is a continuation of Radiopharmacy I. This course will cover the design
considerations related to a nuclear pharmacy. It will cover radiation dosimetry
and radiation regulations and radiation protection. The therapeutic uses of
radiopharmaceuticals will be reviewed and an overview of molecular imaging will
be given. A review of adverse reactions and altered biodistribution will be
given.
Safe
handling of radionuclides and biohazard material will be presented. The student
will receive instruction and have the opportunity to observe and assist in the
hot lab at Pharm Corp.
NM
240 Computer Applications in Nuclear Medicine
This
course reviews processing and display of images. It also includes filters used
in processing SPECT data. An overview of the four major quantitative cardiac
perfusion software packages, as well as Gated acquisition and processing
considerations are included in this course. This course will also cover
computer networking, DICOM and PACS. Students will need to complete a computer
lab as part of this course which will be completed at a clinical site and
brought to class.
NM
250 Nuclear Medicine Procedures IV
During
this course, the student will study journal articles in the fields of general
nuclear medicine and PET and PET/CT. In addition to learning the latest
information in the field, students will learn to look at articles critically
and point out possible biases in the articles. This course will cover some of
the research that is continuing in Nuclear Medicine technology and will include
hybrid imaging and molecular imaging. Research methods will be discussed as
well as ethics. Information of research ethics will be given. A review of
Nuclear Medicine procedures previously covered will be given. There will also
be discussion on cultural diversity to include imaging considerations. There
will also be discussion of interesting or difficult cases encountered in the
clinical setting and the resolution or constructive feedback that was given.
NM
260 Clinical Practicum IV
Clinical
practice is used throughout the course to enhance the student's clinical skills
and re-enforce academic material. The student will perform nuclear medicine and
CT examinations during all phases of the clinical practicum. As the student
progresses through the practicum and gains experience, more responsibility will
be given to the student.
NM
270 Administrative Procedures
This
course will include a description of scheduling and clerical issues specific to
nuclear medicine. Quality Assurance procedures will be demonstrated with
rationale provided. The budgeting and purchasing procedures will be discussed.
Regulating agencies and requirements for compliance will be studied. A
discussion of good public relations with rationale will be included. Te managed
care environment will also be studied. This course will also provide a brief
overview of management styles, types of management and marketing of nuclear
medicine. A review of HIPAA and radiation safety requirements will be given.
This course will aid in preparing the student to perform administrative
functions in the event that they find themselves in an administrative position
in the nuclear medicine department.
NM
280 Registry Review
This
course will review everything covered in Nuclear Medicine and PET imaging as
well as physics and radiopharmacy. In addition there will be several tests and
comprehensive exams given during this course to prepare the students for the
national registry exams.
NM
290 Clinical Practicum V
Clinical practice is used throughout the course to
enhance the student's clinical skills and re-enforce academic material. The
student will perform nuclear medicine and CT examinations during all phases of
the clinical practicum. Much more focus will be given to CT than Nuclear
Medicine at this point in the program. As the student progresses through the
practicum and gains experience, more responsibility will be given to the
student.
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