The two-year program, approved this month by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, results from a partnership between Ivy Tech and the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute.

"Our goal is to meet the work force needs of the region under the life sciences umbrella," said John Whikehart, chancellor of Ivy Tech Bloomington.

The college will start offering the program this fall. The associate of science degree requires 65 credit hours of courses, including 28 hours in general education and 37 hours of professional and clinical training.

It will produce skilled professionals who are trained to work with cancer patients, delivering targeted doses of radiation and helping with basic care and emergency treatment, Whikehart said.

While some graduates will work in hospital cancer-care units, the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute — at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility in Bloomington — is likely to hire many of them. Officials say the institute will add 26 radiation therapists in the next two years and could eventually provide 70 new radiation therapy jobs.

Graduates can also pursue a four-year degree at the University of Southern Indiana at Evansville.

Whikehart said Alan Thornton, the medical director of the proton therapy center, suggested the program in the fall of 2003. Whikehart worked with state Ivy Tech officials, who agreed to have the Bloomington campus offer the college's first radiation therapy degree.

Staff at the proton therapy center helped develop the curriculum and will teach professional and clinical courses. Thornton started a similar degree program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston before coming to Bloomington.

Mark Long, president of the IU Research & Technology Corp., which owns the proton therapy institute, said the degree program "is a win-win for both sides."

"It certainly is a win for MPRI in being able to recruit and retain people in the field when there is a shortage nationwide," he said. "And it is a tremendous win for the Bloomington community and Ivy Tech to provide a good career path for Hoosier students."

Whikehart said the degree adds to Ivy Tech's health division, which includes programs for nurses, certified nurse assistants, paramedics, radiologic technicians and respiratory technicians as well as degrees in biotechnology and kinesiology.

The Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute is one of only four facilities in the United States using high-powered, precisely targeted proton beams to treat tumors that can't be treated effectively with traditional radiation therapy.

It saw its first patient in February 2004 and now treats about 10 patients a day with shifts that run from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Long said. He said it will add two treatment rooms in January 2006 and plans to eventually treat almost 1,000 patients a year.

More information

Students who want to know more about Ivy Tech's radiation therapy degree program may contact the campus's office of student recruitment at 330-6350 or toll-free at (866) 447-0700.