Professional Certificate Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry

Course Features

  • Targeted towards health care professionals currently involved in the everyday practice and interpretation of DXA scanning.
  • Material is delivered via online lectures, providing a flexible approach to accommodate busy health care professionals and clinical site planning.
  • This course will lead participants from basic to advanced practice in DXA, delivered by experts in the field.

Overview

With an ageing population, the use of DXA examinations to detect signs of osteoporotic changes will play a pivotal role in diagnosis of this condition and support recommendations on its management. DXA examinations are extremely operator dependent and very sensitive to discrepancies in technique. Accurate and consistent DXA images that are reproducible are the cornerstone of a reliable DXA service.

This course is directed towards healthcare professionals currently involved in the acquisition of DXA scans, or those who wish to gain theoretical knowledge in scanner technology and scan acquisition.  It may also be suitable for referring clinicians and those who report on DXA scans to gain a better understanding of the modality and how results are generated

Overview

This course will equip healthcare professionals currently involved in DXA examinations with the skills and expertise necessary to:

  • Develop their understanding of the operational and technical skills required to produce optimal and reproducible DXA scans.
  • Develop their understanding of analysis techniques in order to produce reliable results.
  • Critically evaluate their own examination techniques and compare against best practice to ensure optimal standards of operation.

The course structure has been specifically designed to accommodate both students and employers through use of e-learning. All learning materials are released online, throughout the module, thus allowing greater flexibility and autonomous learning to maximise student engagement.

Overview

Applicants must:

  • Hold a primary degree in healthcare e.g. medicine, radiography, physiotherapy, nursing or equivalent.
  • Have access to computing facilities and reliable internet access as all learning content is made available through an online learning platform

 

 

Please note: Completion of this module does not ‘qualify’ a student to operate a DXA scanner.  Only those professionals specifically listed in the legislation (SI 256 of 2108) are permitted to operate a DXA scanner.

  • International applicants should contact the academic programme director for a full list of entry requirements.
  • A list of FAQs for international applicants is available here.
  • Information on studying at UCD as international students is available here. 
  • Applications should be submitted via the online application portal at www.ucd.ie/apply
  • Programme application deadline is 10th January 2025 

For information on course fees please visit:

EU applicants fees

Non EU applicants fees

(please enter programme title or programme major code – in the search bar)

Applicants (regardless of their sponsorship status) are required to pay a non-refundable deposit in order to accept programme offers.

Academic Programme Coordinator

Programme Administrator

Ms Eilish McDermott
Lecturer
UCD School of Medicine
UCD Health Sciences Centre
UCD Belfield, Dublin 4

E: eilish.mcdermott@ucd.ie

Diagnostic Imaging Programme Office
UCD Health Sciences Centre
UCD Belfield, Dublin 4 

T: + 353 1 716 6545
F:  + 353 1 716 6547

E: graduate.imaging@ucd.ie

 

 

Key Information:

  • Major Code X579
  • Duration 4 Months
  • Schedule Part-Time
  • Next Intake January Annually