RN vs Radiation Therapy Program

tgibs87 · Jul 10, 2012

So I wanted to get some opinions on which program is better to get into. I am attending CSN and was originally going for the RN program but can't seem to pass microbiology. So my thought is if I can't even pass micro how am I going to pass nursing classes. that is the last class I need and physics is the last class I need to apply to the radiation program. I plan to stay in Vegas and I see more RN job openings. I would appreciate any advice or opinions.. Thank you in advance!

Chronis · Jul 11, 2012

Hi tgibs87:

I can't really compare RNs to radiation therapy since I am not that familiar about the pay and job opportunities in radiation therapy. However I can say that the job market for new RNs is pretty abysmal right now so you might want to keep that in mind. However I have taken both microbiology and two semesters of physics. One thing you should look into is if the physics required for radiation therapy is a technical, intro, or health science physics class. Those types of physics courses are significantly easier than college level physic courses that one would need to take for things like medical school. I took two semesters of college physics courses and from my own personal experience I can tell you that I found microbiology to be much easier and the labs far more interesting. However the two are quite different with microbiology being much more memory based while physics as you can imagine was extremely math intensive.

I will say though that I am surprised that if you got through human anatomy and physiology that you wouldn't be able to get through microbiology. All of those courses I thought where pretty much the same in terms of difficulty. Are you having problems with the micro lab, or do you find the class boring? Perhaps you just have a bad teacher. Have you tried taking microbiology with another professor? One suggestion I have that may help you make sense of a class you are struggling with is to look for a book like microbiology for dummies. This may seem a little silly I know but when I was in calculus I found the book the professor assigned to us to be absolutely no help whatsoever. If I had relied upon that useless 12 pound book I would have definitely either failed calculus or done very poorly. My calculus professors lectures also sucked and I learned absolutely nothing about calculus when I attended them. The only way I made it through that course was by taking my calculus for dummies book and using it to literally teach myself calculus.

I also would encourage you to examine your own study habits and try to see how they might be improved. I know when I first started taking the science courses my study skills where really lousy. When I took general chemistry for the first time I got a D+ and in my first semester of human anatomy and physiology I got a C+. I would latter go on to retake both those courses and get A's in both so it can be done. In any event I wish you the best of luck whatever future career path you choose.

tgibs87 · Jul 11, 2012

Chronis... Thank you for your reply. I am going to take your advice and get microbiology for dummies and see if it helps the next time around. I passed bio 223 with a B and 224 with a C on the first time but It could be that I took those at NSC and they teach differently than CSN in my opinion. I will do some more research as well. Thank you again!