Notes

The precautions a doctor should take when treating a patient with radiotherapy are that they should stay behind a barrier when the patient is being exposed to radiation unless absolutely necessary and to stay as far as possible from the source. They protect the doctor from radiation because radiation is less ionising the further away you are from it, and it is less likely to contaminate someone if they are behind a barrier. Precautions taken to minimise the damage to a patient when having radiotherapy using an internal source are that they are only given the treatment if the benefits outweigh the risks, and if they are given it the radiation source with short half lives are used. They protect the patient because if the risks outweigh the benefits, then there is more of a chance that there will be complications, and if the source has a short half life, then it will only be dangerously ionising for a short amount of time. Precautions taken to minimise the damage to a patient when having radiotherapy using an external source are that the treatment is only used if the benefits outweigh the costs, and the patient is exposed to the source for as little time as possible. They protect the patient because if the risks outweigh the benefits, then there is more of a chance that there will be complications, and the less time the patient is exposed to the source, the less radiation they are exposed to.