Any rad-techs out there?

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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Hi everyone...since I have been thinking about Rad-tech, I was wondering if someone in the field could give me some advice. I initially wanted to do MRI or CT, and the hospital where I work (Jefferson in Philly), offers accelerated 1 year bachelor's programs in all modalities, if you already have a previous bachelor's and all the prerequisites (except for CT, for some reason...they only offer it to people with previous rad-tech experience...which seems weird, since that's the only one).

ANYWAY, after reading on the message boards @ indeed.com (really NEGATIVE site, btw), a few individuals stated that it would be a REALLY bad idea to get certified in MRI/CT/any other modality without having a general radiography certification first, as hospitals like to hire people with more than one modality, and radiography is considered the base off which to build all your skills.

SO, for any CT techs/MRI techs/NucMed techs/Rad Therapists/Sonographers out there, did you get your rad-tech cert FIRST, and then specialize, or did you specialize right away? Is this immediate specialization without radiography first a new phenomenon, and is it crazy to think one could get a job in CT/MRI/NUC-Med/PET, etc, without having your radiography cert first?

Any help at all would be appreciated. Jefferson also offers a 2 year multicompetency program, in which case I would prob pick radiography and CT/MRI/NucMed, if I decided to go that route. But I don't want to take a whole extra year if I don't have to.

Thanks in advance!

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:)....

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Specializes in LDRP.

you probably wont get very many responses. this site is called ALLNURSES.com... not ALLRADTECHS.com.

although there are some non nurse people on here, i wouldnt bank on pages of prompt responses.

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I know, but a boy can dream can't he?

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.

Going from personal experience ( Im a nurse, not a rad tech). The hospital I am employed by ONLY hires rad techs and then trains them for MRI or CT. Its a stepping stone kind of thing. You start out as a regular RT and after enough time you can put in for CT and MRI. I would recommend Rad Tech school, if thats really your goal. I cant imagine why they offer certs without requiring RT school. I find it kind of odd.

Also, IVe found that Nuc Med is usually its own field, apart from RT and seperate schooling. (But I may be wrong).

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.
Going from personal experience ( Im a nurse, not a rad tech). The hospital I am employed by ONLY hires rad techs and then trains them for MRI or CT. Its a stepping stone kind of thing. You start out as a regular RT and after enough time you can put in for CT and MRI. I would recommend Rad Tech school, if thats really your goal. I cant imagine why they offer certs without requiring RT school. I find it kind of odd.

Also, IVe found that Nuc Med is usually its own field, apart from RT and seperate schooling. (But I may be wrong).

I went to a community college that offered that as a program (nuclear medicine). I almost considered it for a while. It looks like a very interesting field:up::up:

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Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.

I started out taking pre-reqs for rad tech, but changed to nursing because of a long waiting list for the small rad program locally. Best thing I ever did, so glad I changed.

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Specializes in ER.

My son in law is in the first semester rad tech program at AB tech in Asheville NC. It was very competitive to get in and is hard to get a job right now in this area. From my understanding, it is a 2 year degree with an extra 6 month add on for CT/MRI. This is a second career for him, having owned his own business for a good while and he is 38 years old, but he loves the program.

Their plan is to complete the program including MRI, CT, get a year or so under his belt then work as a traveling tech and see the country. His program is the only one I am familiar with but you may want to check out the curriculum there just to get a feel for different programs.

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I am in a Radiation Therapy program, but the school I am at also has radiology. From my understanding you do have to go through the radiology program, then you can specialize in one of the other modalities if you want. You might want to check the ARRT site because they set the standard for the curriculum requirements for the field. That is the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, the site is arrt.org.

Alot of states require a license to practice and if that is a requirement in your state you want to go to a school that meets the curriculum requirements of ARRT or you will not be able to sit for the exam. Good luck, peace...

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For what its worth, I know the hospitals where I am located require their ct and mri techs to also be certified in rad tech.

Best wishes to you.

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I am in a Radiation Therapy program, but the school I am at also has radiology. From my understanding you do have to go through the radiology program, then you can specialize in one of the other modalities if you want. You might want to check the ARRT site because they set the standard for the curriculum requirements for the field. That is the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, the site is arrt.org.

Alot of states require a license to practice and if that is a requirement in your state you want to go to a school that meets the curriculum requirements of ARRT or you will not be able to sit for the exam. Good luck, peace...

Eagle, were you a radiographer first, or did you go right into radiation therapy? I mean, where I would be applying to is a huge university/hospital (Jefferson)..I can't imagine they'd offer these routes separately from radiography if you couldn't do them without being certified in radiography first...right?

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Eagle, were you a radiographer first, or did you go right into radiation therapy? I mean, where I would be applying to is a huge university/hospital (Jefferson)..I can't imagine they'd offer these routes separately from radiography if you couldn't do them without being certified in radiography first...right?

Well, the understanding that I am under is there are two base line curriculum in radiology. They are x-radiology and radiation therapy. From what I gather you have to first get your degree/certificate in x-radiology in order to be able to go through further schooling for the other modalities. Radiation therapy is different because it is therapuetic and radiology is diagnostic. It is for that reason that I did not have to go through the radiographer path.

As far as the university you are looking at, I would think they would not offer a curriculum that would not qualify you to test. Try looking at the arrt.org or the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology ie JRCERT the site is http://www.jrcert.org/index.html. The jrcert site also has a search for accredited schools. Look at arrt.org because that is the organization that would provide the test to credential you. I just do not want you to get into a program that is not going to give you the curriculum you need to be able to work as a rad tech. Could it be that you may have misunderstood the guideliens??? Hope this helps, good luck.

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