Radiology or surg techs out there?

angelac1978 · Jun 25, 2004

it's probably a little late, but I will reply anyway. You should check out the following sites for rad tech.

http://www.arrt.org

http://www.asrt.org

http://www.radiography.com

http://www.auntminnie.com

I am applying to a rad tech program for this fall. If you are wanting greater earning potential then you should go with rad tech over surg tech. Most surg techs I know are making what you make right now, plus they are on their feet for long periods of time sometimes and are at the mercy of surgeons. rad tech offers a little more autonomy plus once you get your basic certification, you can specialize in other areas like MRI, CT, ultrasound, etc for more $$ and marketability. If you have more questions, feel free to PM me. I will answer any questions that I can! Good luck!

A

opalmRN · Jul 1, 2004

rad tech offers a little more autonomy plus once you get your basic certification, you can specialize in other areas like MRI, CT, ultrasound, etc for more $$ and marketability.

Not sure how it is in your state but in PA you do not need to have your RT to learn and work U/S. I went the route of RT because I was misinformed. Could have gone straight to U/S school and saved myself a great deal of time and money.

Here in PA, Thomas Jefferson University has an excellent sonography program!

Best wishes to you.

opalmRN · Jul 1, 2004

rad tech offers a little more autonomy plus once you get your basic certification, you can specialize in other areas like MRI, CT, ultrasound, etc for more $$ and marketability.

Not sure how it is in your state but in PA you do not need to have your RT to learn and work U/S. I went the route of RT because I was misinformed. Could have gone straight to U/S school and saved myself a great deal of time and money.

Here in PA, Thomas Jefferson University has an excellent sonography program!

Best wishes to you.

studentdeb · Jul 6, 2004

How come you chose rad tech over nursing? I have just recently been looking into rad tech. Do you think it overs variety?

Debi

it's probably a little late, but I will reply anyway. You should check out the following sites for rad tech.
http://www.arrt.org
http://www.asrt.org
http://www.radiography.com
http://www.auntminnie.com
I am applying to a rad tech program for this fall. If you are wanting greater earning potential then you should go with rad tech over surg tech. Most surg techs I know are making what you make right now, plus they are on their feet for long periods of time sometimes and are at the mercy of surgeons. rad tech offers a little more autonomy plus once you get your basic certification, you can specialize in other areas like MRI, CT, ultrasound, etc for more $$ and marketability. If you have more questions, feel free to PM me. I will answer any questions that I can! Good luck!
A

angelac1978 · Jul 8, 2004

it does offer variety, but nursing does as well. I can't really say exactly why I chose rad tech over nursing. Nursing just didn't feel right to me, but the minute I started shadowing in the rad tech department, I felt right at home. I guess maybe because I am a techno geek and rad tech involves a lot of technology while nursing is more patient centered. I didn't really like working with the same patients day in day out as a CNA. Usually a pt will only be in the rad dept for a few minutes, maybe a few hours at the most. It just seems more fast paced to me, which appeals to me. I guess rad tech is just a better fit for me and my personality. I hope that wasn't too confusing!

RTR-RN · Sep 21, 2004

I'm tryin to find out what I wanna do with my life it comes down to ,rad tech, surg tech or health information tech. My first choice is rad tech. I just wanna know what are your main responibilites are, what you like, love, hate about your job. WOuld you recommend rad tech surg tech as a career. I'm not sure about health info tech aka medical records because I have to kids to raise and starting salary is like 10 -14 an hour. THanks in advance if I get any response.:)

I may also be posting to late but I would definitly recomment rad tech over surg tech or health info. I am a rad tech and the responsibilities include pt.care, handing in films with a certain quality control for the radiologist to read them, radiation protection....There are also many different modalities of Radiology you can go into like CT, MRI, nuclear med, ultrasound, rad therapy which all pay even more. I'm now going the other way and want to become a nurse practitioner so you may even change you mind again!!

Good luck