Interested in Radiography

Editorial Team / Admin · Apr 12, 2015

This site provides a lot of information related to radiologic technologists. To be quite honest, from what I've seen (and keep in mind I work in the OR so my exposure to the full job is limited to what they do in my setting), there isn't a lot in common with being a nurse and being a rad tech.

You don't say how old you are or how when you graduated high school. If you are still in high school, why not talk it out with your guidance counselor? If you aren't, why not try a career counselor?

Missingyou, CNA · May 2, 2015

My nephew is a radiology technologist. He went to school for 2 years in Rhode Island. It was VERY competitive to get into the program and math was very important. Later, he was able to get on the job training then state tested for CAT scan tech.

canned_bread · May 6, 2015

Hey - I work in a cardiac cath lab in Australia. Our nurses, prior to entering the cath lab do not require radiography degrees in any way. They are simply nurses, who get trained along the way. Some have cardiac and other knowledge.

Legally we require a radiographer to be present whilst we do the x-rays etc. So we employ radiographers (who have often done nothing like it, just x-rays and CTs etc), and then train them to use our machines and send them on cardiology etc courses.

So basically, as I see it, you have 2 choices. You can become a radiographer - which is a whole course of its own. It teaches you x-rays, CTs, etc. But is the diagnostic side and is more so out of hospitals and in x-ray clinics.

Then there is nursing, which is nursing.

And then there is a combination, depending on what table you want to sit at - which is something like a cath lab, but either as a radiographer or as a nurse.

My understanding is both jobs are great, and both have intense need for people. Ie. you won't have a hard time finding a job!

Maths is critical for both nursing and radiographer. I was never very good at maths, but I did it at high-school and managed to scrape my way through university!

NEradtech · May 18, 2015

I graduated last May with bachelor's degree in rad tech and will be starting an ADN program this fall.

To answer your question, starting a rad tech program is not a good stepping stone to become a radiology nurse if that is your end goal. Sure you'll understand the procedures and lingo but you can learn that on the job as a nurse. Almost all radiology nurses were just trained to work in the radiology dept. It'll be a waste of time and money to do a rad tech program then do a nursing program. And yes, there's a lot of math involved in rad tech. It's doable if you study to understand the concepts. It's not just memorizing formulas and numbers. You have to know which does what and build upon it because it's physics, not algebra.

And it is extremely hard to find a rad tech job with no experience right now. A lot harder than a new grad nurse! Think about it, hospitals only need a handful of rad techs to run the imaging dept. and they are only needed in that dept and OR vs nurses are needed in every dept 24/7.

Sorry for the long post. Hope this helps!

Wolf at the Door, BSN · May 29, 2015

Dear OP,

The answer to your question is a big fat No. Stepping stone to working in IR is ICU.