Career
Medical dosimetrists
Plan radiation doses for cancer treatment.
$147,470
Median pay
+5.0%
Job growth, 2025–35
200
Openings a year
Bachelor's degree
Typical education
4 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Design the arrangement of radiation fields to reduce exposure to critical patient structures, such as organs, using computers, manuals, and guides.
- Plan the use of beam modifying devices, such as compensators, shields, and wedge filters, to ensure safe and effective delivery of radiation treatment.
- Identify and outline bodily structures, using imaging procedures, such as x-ray, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, or positron emission tomography.
- Calculate the delivery of radiation treatment, such as the amount or extent of radiation per session, based on the prescribed course of radiation therapy.
- Calculate, or verify calculations of, prescribed radiation doses.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on ideas & analysis, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Design the arrangement of radiation fields to reduce exposure to critical patient structures, such as organs, using computers, manuals, and guides.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $147,470 a year and 200 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Allied Health ProfessionsSee the degree →
- Medical Radiologic Technology/Science - Radiation TherapistCIP 51.0907
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Radiation Therapists$105,310 · +2.8%
- Nuclear Medicine Technologists$101,370 · +4.4%
- Radiologists$420,860 · +3.4%
- Radiologic Technologists and Technicians$80,110 · +5.0%
- Nuclear Monitoring Technicians
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.