NukeWorker Forum
Career Path => Radiation Safety => Topic started by: Nuke Phantom on May 22, 2015, 11:01
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I am looking for a decent school to get an HP Degree. Being a Rent a tech right now working long term, I'd prefer it to be online. I am familiar with a number of schools but cannot find an option online. Any input is appreciated, thank you.
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Many years ago, before I can to my senses, I looked into s real HP degree (4 year) out of UN Las Vegas. Tuition was not cheap and I realized, since I was already a senior HP, what good would it do me? The lesser 2 year degrees you can learn from you tube and Khan University or coursea. The 2 year degrees are expensive and only so much can be done on line. At a plant at an outage HP's are coming from OJT Juniors, interns from local HP degree programs, kind of everyone and their brother want to be an HP. HP's are a sliver of the available jobs and limit you to nuclear plants. Others, like machinist, electricians, and even straight helpers are more numerous and not limited to just nuclear plants. If you goal is to get work, chose your vocation wisely and don't waste money on training programs the end you up with a job giving you two short 4 week outages a season twice a year.
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I am looking for a decent school to get an HP Degree. Being a Rent a tech right now working long term, I'd prefer it to be online. I am familiar with a number of schools but cannot find an option online. Any input is appreciated, thank you.
If you want a degree in Health Physics, be aware it may be a 5-year program depending on which university you select. What I would recommend is that you start by looking at the HP programs at schools such as North Western, Perdue, University of Indiana, etc., to see what each of their total curriculums looks like. They should all be fairly similar. Then, you start pursuing the classes you can take through schools such as Excelsior College in Albany, New York. Excelsior doesn't offer classes but they do give you one location to send all your credits. This may take several years using CLEP tests, evaluations of your life experiences (military, NRRPT, etc.), long-distance learning classes from various schools all around the country, etc. Excelsior will even show you where some of those classes are offered. Once you've amassed all the hours you can through these "non-traditional" programs, then choose your university carefully, have Excelsior send your transcript there and finish off the remaining classes - usually one or two semesters on campus. It's a hard roe to hoe, but it'll be worth it once you get to the end and have your Bachelors degree in Health Physics in your hand.
By the way, I pick on Excelsior on purpose. They started out as the University of the State of New York - the oldest accredited university in the United States - and are run by the New York State Board of Regents. They don't have a campus or offer classes but they are a great place to consolidate your credits until you are ready for that last semester or two at the university of your choice.
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A B.S. in Health Physics is not typical for online schools. Oregon State and Colorado State have good HP programs, and some of the classes can be done on-line, but much of the program is classroom. Of the HPs I meet in my profession, probably more than half have bachelors in something other than Health Physics, but many of them have the MS in Health Physics. Due to the limited number of students interested, the difficulty of the material and the hands-on portion of the labs; the on-line programs are not capable or interested in providing this degree.
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I agree. However, the first two years are pretty much standard classes at all schools and can be completed using non-traditional methods, i.e., on-line, self-study, mail-order, etc. My recommendation was to acquire as much of the classes as possible using an external degrees program such as Excelsior and then settling in for the remainder of the classes at the school of his/her choice. Based on my past experience, that would require at least one if not two full semesters to complete on campus. Each school has their own requirements for on-campus time. And those semester would be fairly full - 10 to 12 hours each.
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google "health bachelor degree online".