An innovative software program is transforming the way Bellevue College’s radiation therapy students learn life-saving skills to treat cancer. What’s more, BC is one of only three training facilities in the nation where students can use the program.

The software, called VERT, for Virtual Environment Radiotherapy Training, was developed to address a critical shortage of training facilities. Traditionally, training programs negotiate use of hospitals’ multi-million-dollar radiotherapy treatment machines when they sit idle so students can have valuable practice time. But with patient loads increasing, these machines are in near-constant use, leaving little time for training.

That’s where VERT has revolutionized training. The software produces three-dimensional views of treatment machines, incorporating controls just as they would normally appear. Students can practice with virtual patients in a safe environment. What’s more, students can peer inside these life-like patients to see how the radiation treatments they are administering affect internal organs and other bodily systems.

“Because it’s so realistic, we’re finding that students are learning difficult concepts much more quickly, and we can teach a wider range of scenarios that will better prepare them for all kinds of situations that may arise,” said Program Chair Julius Armstrong. “We think this will ultimately lead to more effective cancer treatments for patients.”

Radiation Therapy, also called radiotherapy, is used to treat cancer by employing ionizing radiation to control or kill malignant cells. To spare normal tissues (such as skin or organs in which radiation must pass through in order to treat the tumor), shaped radiation beams are aimed from several angles of exposure to intersect at the tumor, providing a much larger absorbed dose than in surrounding, healthy tissue. It takes a skilled radiation therapist to successfully aim these radiation beams, and that’s what makes VERT’s ability to simulate real-world scenarios so beneficial.

Support from organizations in the community paid for the software program through the auspices of the Bellevue College Foundation; no taxpayer money was used.

Bellevue College has offered a radiation therapy program since 1984 and is one of only two in the Pacific Northwest. After finishing eight quarters of instruction, graduates go on to work as radiation therapists in hospitals.