Course Details

Who is it for?

This course is essential for all members of the imaging and radiation oncology team including radiographers, radiologists, oncologists, physicists, technicians, technologists and others.  

Why do this course?

This course will help you understand the practice and principles of radiation dose optimisation and safety. It will ensure that you understand the hazards of radiation and the underlying principles for dose optimisation, and will help you to fulfil your practical responsibilities safely and effectively. The course will also help you make sure doses to both staff and patients are As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) while obtaining optimum image quality for patient diagnosis and management.
This video course provides 4 CPD credits in accordance with the CPD Scheme of The Royal College of Radiologists, and has been approved for professional accreditation by the College of Radiographers until March 2026.

About this course

It comprises approximately three and a half hours of narrated video content divided into digestible twenty minute sessions, together with test questions and assessments throughout, awarding CPD certificates at the end. Footage includes illustrations, animations, live action, and recorded interviews.

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The course covers the hazards of radiation to patients and staff, deterministic and stochastic effects, as well as background radiation and the relationship between dose and risk. How and why radiation dose is measured and recorded, calculating and estimating dose, and dose audits and reviews are also included. The course will go over optimisation of patient radiation dose, including defining dose optimisation, strategies for optimising dose, modality specific dose optimisation, and dose optimisation for particular patient groups such as paediatric and pregnant patients. Finally, the course also covers staff dose limits, measuring radiation dose, the importance of wearing dosemeters and PPE, and the practicalities of limiting dose.

The course is comprehensive, written by some of the UK’s foremost radiation safety and dosimetry professionals working in clinical settings, peer reviewed, and with contributions from leading experts. It uses proven educational techniques to make it engaging and memorable and it is designed to be relevant to the practical needs of busy professionals.

Course Creators

Course Directors*: Andrea Bangay (Superintendent Radiographer, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London), Thea Buchan (CT Superintendent Radiographer, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London) and Colin Martin (Honorary Senior Lecturer, University of Glasgow, Glasgow)

Expert Panel: Peter Hiles (Head of Radiation Physics, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Wales, and Chair of the BIR Radiation Safety Special Interest Group) and Elizabeth Benson (Medical Physicist, King's College London, London)

Editorial Advisor: Sophia Thom (Diagnostic Radiographer, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust)

Interviewees: Nina Arcuri (Clinical Governance & Quality Lead Radiographer, Croydon Health Services NHS Trust), Elly Castellano (Medical Physicist, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust), Andrew Watson (CT Clinical Product & Applications Specialist, Canon Medical Systems Ltd) and James Taylor (HM Principal Specialist Inspector (Radiation), FOD Radiation Team, HSE)

*The right of Andrea Bangay, Thea Buchan and Colin Martin to be identified as authors of this Work has been asserted by him/her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.