this is a series of questions and answers that have been brought to my attention over the years.  many come from new students wanting to know more about the field, so here we go.  if i get any new questions, they'll be posted here in red.

 

1) Does the school you attend affect your hireablity after graduation or will any school do as long as its accredited? Is a JC program just fine?

as long as the school is accredited by arrt, you should be fine. some schools don't train as good as they should, but as long as you can sit for your boards, that's usually enough. most places only care that you have that "RT(R)" behind your name

2) Does getting an A.S. as oppose to a Certificate matter?

as it stands now, i don't think so. i've heard some things about arrt starting to require an AAS in radiology for RT elligibility. www.davesplacesinradiology.com has a link to an asrt article about it.

3) Is this field as in Demand as we're told (on various websites)?

IGNORE ALL ONLINE RADIOLOGY SCHOOLS!!! i've heard too many stories about websites offering online degrees in radiology. a majority, if not all, of these online schools are NOT accredited by arrt, and you won't be able to sit for boards.

that being said, search the forums here. there's been lots of discussions about the job market lately. what happens is that the people who do statistics say that there's no nursing jobs, but loads of radiology jobs. people go to school for radiology. it's a 2 year program. 2 - 5 years down the road, of course, everybody has gone into radiology, and nobody into nursing. therefore, there's no radiology jobs, but loads of nursing jobs. and then they switch back and forth - it's a cycle. i've been doing radiology for about 8 - 9 years now, and i haven't had to worry about having a job. it may not be exactly the shift of position you really want, but they're there.

4) What is a realistic starting salary? IN CALIFORNIA? IN BAY AREA? IN SOUTHERN CA?

this, i have no idea. i live around washington dc, and it all depends on your expierence.

5) Is there alot of additional schooling to cross-train in other modalities? (MRI, CT, Ultrasound, etc)?

not really. cross training can either be school oriented or on the job. i personally went to school for CT, and i think i am a better CT tech for it. a lot of the techs who are trained on the job lack the physics or aren't trained propperly [push this button, wait for this light, push the next button. they aren't taught really what they are doing, or why they're doing it]. this may change in the next few years, because currently, you don't need to be registered in anything but radiology to perform CT or MRI. by 2010, i believe the arrt wants all CT techs to be registered in CT as well as diagnostic radiology.

ultrasound is a whole different world. i've heard of rad techs cross training into ultrasound, but it's rare. if i'm not mistaken, ultrasound has it's own regulatory stuff outside of arrt.

6) I already have a B.S. (NON-healthcare related) will this help me down the road at all? Does it matter?

most definately. if nothing else, those credits should transfer over to your radiology degree [stuff like english, math, social sciences and the such. check with the schools program director or some of the professors just to make sure]

7) What are work condition really like? stressful?, long hours?, slow advancement?, personally rewarding?, fun? monotonus?, whats it really like?

all depends on where you work. the hospitals and trauma centers are completely different from imaging centers, which are a different world completely from the portable techs going to nursing homes.

stressful? can be at times. it all depends on what you call stress, and what level of stress is comfortable for you.

long hours? depends on your position. some places do M-F 8 hour shifts, some places do 4 10's, 3 12's, i've done 16's before, it just all depends on the facility and what they need.

slow advancement? depends on how and where you want to advance to. most places, the hierarchy is like 1-tech, 2-lead tech, 3-manager, 4-director. i've been lead before. no thanks. too much of a headache for me. lord knows i don't want to be a director or a manager.

personally rewarding? [personally a tough question for me right now with my situation http://www.medicalmingle.com/jeepsmurf/blog/ ]. it's funny, i just had a similar question brought up with the evening tech i just relieved tonight.

i started radiology when i was 19 years old, and got my first job my summer semester of my first year. it was a weekend position 12 hour day shift, saturday and sunday. my parrents were pissed because i couldn't go to church anymore. i realized that [not to get all biblical or anything] i was doing the lord's work. what other field other than healthcare can one go to work and help heal people? i'm helping people feel better, survive diseases, healing wounds, finding out why someone is sick, overall, helping them live and survive a little better in this cruel world that we all live in. that gives me gread personal satisfaction.

fun? http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Andes/1555/comedy.html

YOU MIGHT BE AN XRAYTECH IF......

if you believe any job where you can drive to work in green pajamas is a cool job!

if you wash your hands before you go to the bathroom!

if when asked, "what color is the patients diarrhea?" you show them your shoes!

if you have ever told a confused patient your name was that of a co-worker and to HOLLER if they need help!

if eating popcorn out of a clean bedpan is perfectly natural!

if you can identify the kidney stone squirm at 20 feet!

if you've ever had a patient with a nose ring, brow ring and 12 earrings say, "I'm afraid of needles!

if you have to leave the patient's room before you begin to laugh uncontrollably!

if you believe a roll of tape can fix any problem!

if you say to yourself (great veins) when looking at a complete stranger in a grocery store!

if the question of the day is to B.E. or not to B.E.!

if you know that a hard beam + tight collimation equals adequate penetration!

if you know the acronym: Never Lower Tillie's Pants Grandma Might Come Home!

if you know what "pop the film" means!

if you have more white cardboard than you need!

if you have xrays of yourself at home that have never been read by a doctor!

if you have copy xrays of strange things, that you get out at parties!

if you have ever been sent to sterile supply to get fallopian tubes!

monotonus? after a while, it can. that's why we try to make life interesting for ourselves. for instance, there will always be somebody that knows some sort of trick for getting an image that you've never seen before.

whats it really like? i consider myself an artist. it's like photography of the inside of the human body. i pride myself on getting images to the best of my ability, because i know that the more acurate i am with my images, the more acurate the physician can be with his/her diagnosis.