Nuclear medicine imaging (NMT) offers the unique ability to visualize not just how organs and tissues look, but how they work. With the rapid-succession images you capture, you can help physicians visualize a patient’s heart at work and see where there’s damage. Detect if a patient has early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. And even find rare tumors. Your expertise provides information that often can’t be achieved from other imaging procedures, and that may just give patients their best chance.
Working with the latest technology in our labs, you’ll learn to administer radioactive drugs, or radiopharmaceuticals, to patients and monitor the characteristics and functions of tissues or organs where they concentrate. You’ll work closely with physicians to detect and even treat certain diseases, and deliver expert, reliable and compassionate healthcare as a vital part of the team.
Questions about our nuclear medicine technology programs? Connect with our Boston Admission Office at 617.879.5964.
Nuclear Medicine Technology students learn in a dedicated laboratory on equipment that resembles that of many hospitals' medical imaging departments. MCPHS holds a radioactive material license, which allows students to learn how to use radioisotopes prior to a clinical internship. Students will also learn how to use a dose calibrator, fume hood, and SPECT gamma camera, and the laboratory's many additional resources include two nuclear medicine processing computers, four laboratory demonstration counters, a thyroid probe and phantom, two chest phantoms, multiple radioactive sources, multiple syringe shields, and three portable Geiger Mueller counters.
Partnerships with premier medical institutions enable students to gain exposure and experience in leading healthcare institutions. Affiliations also exist at facilities outside of the Boston metro area, which allows commuter students to work closer to home.
Students enrolled in the Nuclear Medicine Technology program receive hands-on opportunities at some of the most prestigious medical facilities in the world, such as the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Brigham and Women's Hospital, to supplement the clinical experience gained in the on-campus program.
Accelerated and Fast-Track options allow students to begin their careers as nuclear medicine technologists sooner.
In a survey conducted by the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board, many respondents had more than 20 years of experience, indicating significant career retention and satisfaction.
With innovative training and clinical internship opportunities in New England’s premier healthcare institutions, our graduates are extremely well prepared to enter the nuclear medicine field. Upon graduation, students are eligible to apply for certification through examination by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board.
Being certified and/or registered in Nuclear Medicine Technology (NMT) affords students many different career paths outside of the traditional role as a nuclear medicine technologist. These potential opportunities, some of which may need additional education, include roles as clinical and pre-clinical research technologists or research associates, application specialists, technologists in hospital or clinical medical imaging departments, supervisors or lead technologists, healthcare managers, or radiation safety officers. Graduates can also use their clinical experience and medical knowledge to further their education through graduate medical programs. For additional information regarding post-graduate opportunities, please contact the NMT program director.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for nuclear medicine technologists was $76,820 in 2018, with the highest 10% earning more than $104,730.
MCPHS University provides facilities that contribute to the overall learning experience, including laboratories specially designed for skill-building and patient assessment in the radiologic sciences.
For the major in Nuclear Medicine Technology, students learn in a dedicated laboratory with equipment that includes:
The location of MCPHS in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, as well as its affiliations with premier medical institutions located in the greater Boston area, enable students to learn in healthcare institutions that are among the best in the world.
Our Medical Imaging and Therapeutics students participate in a variety of community-based clinical settings. This opportunity supplements the clinical experience gained in the on-campus program and provides students with a broader insight into the diverse populations they may encounter in future career settings.
Students enrolled in the Nuclear Medicine Technology major will receive their clinical education at these hospital affiliates:
To ensure that clinical internships are diverse and give all students an equitable and quality clinical education, students will be rotated through a number of different sites. This may involve travel near campus, in the Greater Boston Area, or to more distant sites. Sites are available outside of the Boston metro area for students who live at a distance. Clinical placements are determined by the faculty as to ensure academic objectives are met for each student. Students are responsible for their own transportation to their sites.
The School of Medical Imaging and Therapeutics is responsive to the medical imaging and therapeutic needs of the health care community. As such it seeks to develop innovative programs that integrate scientific and technical knowledge with the liberal arts and social sciences, and produce graduates with skills necessary to meet the challenges of the future.
Program Goals:
Student Learning Objectives:
The programs offered for the nuclear medicine technology major is accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Educational Programs in Nuclear Medicine Technology (JRCNMT)
Graduate achievement data is an indicator of program effectiveness, demonstrating the extent to which a program achieves its goals. The current report on graduate achievement data, identified by program, is available on the JRCNMT website by clicking on the following link: Graduate Achievement Report.
Tour the Nuclear Medicine Technology Lab, where students learn in an environment as advanced as the professional settings that await them.
MCPHS offers medical imaging careers across five growing fields.
