Course Information

IMPORTANT UPDATE for Upcoming Courses

In compliance with the University of California mandate for students, faculty, and staff, effective September 2021, we will require all students to be fully vaccinated (including a booster shot if eligible) by the time of attending the in-person training portion of the course. This policy allows for medical exceptions consistent with CDC guidance. Requests for exemptions will be reviewed and approved by our senior administrators and medical advisors. 

We have moved the lecture portion of our course to a virtual classroom. These lectures will be presented in a live webinar format over a 2-day time frame with our faculty of subject experts so you will still have the opportunity to interact and ask questions. You will be required to attend the entire time and you must have camera/video capabilities to verify your attendance.

As the clinical training is a required component, you will still need to come to our lab in person to complete the course and scan volunteer participants under the supervision of our instructors. This in-person training will be scheduled with students individually, in order to limit the class size and total number of people in our lab space.

Please be aware that all scheduled classes may be canceled at ANY time. We will follow all health and safety orders issued by the University of California, San Diego, the City of San Diego, the State of California. Appropriate refunds/rescheduling will be arranged.

If you have any questions or concerns, please Contact Us. 

This 24-hour course develops competencies in the principles and practices of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for assessing bone health and body composition. This course also aims to improve student confidence in conducting and interpreting DXA scans, as well as in interacting with patients throughout their DXA visit, including intake of medical history, fracture risk assessment, and patient education.

Didactic instruction focuses on the following subject areas:

• Skeletal Anatomy and Bone biology

• Epidemiology of Osteoporosis and Diagnostic criteria

• Radiation basics and safety

• X-ray bone densitometry equipment

• Computers and image formation

• DXA machine operation, scan acquisition, analysis, and report generation

• Pharmacologic treatment of osteoporosis

Clinical instruction includes:

• A minimum of 20 scans on volunteer patients (required for state licensure)
• Experience with patient positioning, operation, and analysis on 1 of 2 DXA machines (GE Healthcare Prodigy and Hologic Horizon W)

FOR THE PROSPECTIVE STUDENT

Course Length: 3 ½ Days of structured learning (2 online, 1 ½ in person), 2 weeks access to self-directed online prep course

Course Price: $2,500 (Additional transaction fees from Eventbrite may apply)

There are NO prerequisites, other certifications, or prior experience required to be eligible for our course.

If you are already a CRT licensed in California, you do NOT need an additional limited x-ray permit in Bone Densitometry to perform DXA scans

This course does NOT meet the requirements for ARRT’s Secondary Credential in Bone Densitometry

This course has both online and in-person components. As an enrolled student, you will be given access to an online prerequisite course 2 weeks before the webinar lecture dates. You are required to complete this prerequisite course and take the short online exam BEFORE the main webinar lecture series. The remainder of the didactic portion of the course will be presented in a webinar format where you will be able to interact with our subject expert faculty and ask questions. Attendance for the full lecture series is mandatory to complete the course.

A MANDATORY 1 ½ days of in-person clinical instruction is also REQUIRED for course completion. This training will be scheduled individually with all registered students and will take place 1-2 weeks after the lecture series. 

Space is very limited for each course session. CONTACT US to be notified when registration opens for each class!
Registration for each course will CLOSE 11 days before the start of class.