Kyle Brazell Nears The End of Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science Degree

Kyle Brazell is nearing the end of another placement, as he edges closer to completing his Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science, specialising in Radiation Therapy.

Not the most common of career paths, Kyle himself described it as “pretty niche”, but says he always had an interest in medical radiation.

Initially, Kyle wanted to specialise in a different branch of Medical Radiation, but after a few years of enjoying the experience in Radiation Therapy, decided to stick with it, and now finds himself almost at the end of the degree.

What is Radiation Therapy? Kyle gave an overview of what it involves, saying “we mainly deal with cancer patients, ranging from skin cancers, breast cancer, prostate cancer."

From a university degree perspective, Kyle’s learning has involved lots of anatomy, particularly cross-sectional anatomy, how to read CT scans, general physiology, as well as learning about the pharmaceutical side of things.

One side of Radiation Therapy that Kyle has enjoyed is building rapport with patients, as they come in for treatment blocks that can be five to six weeks long. Building relationships has certainly helped Kyle stick with the degree up to this point.

Throughout school, Kyle always wanted to study. His parents were big supporters of pursuing something away from professional sport.

“I had my parents always saying you’re not going to be able to play cricket or professional sport forever, and I’ve always been interested in health and physical activity.

“My older sister is in health; I always had an interest in PE and biology, and that’s just kept evolving as I’ve got older and moved into university.”

Kyle was six months into full-time study when he received a rookie contract with South Australia.

“I had some really good support, SACA pushed me to keep my study up as much as I could, so in season I was doing two subjects and in the off-season, I was doing four.”

In terms of balancing studies with training and playing commitments, the first couple of years of the degree were mainly subject based, with classes online and in-person making for a “nice balance”. However, the last year has involved a lot more placement and become more difficult to juggle.

The juggle of study and professional cricket has provided some great perspective for Kyle. A key takeaway from his time on contract is not putting so much pressure on things, and letting things evolve as they do.

“When you’re in the system, you can want things to happen right then and there, and that’s when it doesn’t happen.

“Now it’s just a time of letting it evolve and going with the flow a little bit more.”

The ACA has supported Kyle throughout his degree through Education Grants, and he described their impact as significant.

“Not only from the financial point of view, obviously that’s great, but knowing that the ACA is promoting professional development.

“You can’t play cricket forever and I think it’s great that the ACA and our PDM’s are playing a big role in promoting players to do something. That’s been massive, on top of the financial support.

“In my position now, to not have a HECS debt with six months left in my degree, it’s great, and I can’t thank the ACA enough.”

Members that are interested in applying for Education Grants are encouraged to reach out to their PDM or the ACA directly.