For those who are X-ray technicians

Question

My friend went on line through a college here in town and is now a X-ray technician. She says she really likes it. What kind of money does one make. Do you really have to look at alot of blood. What are the costs for school? Are you glad you are in this field? Any other advice would help! Trying to make up my mind to do this.

Answer 1

I work in a free standing imaging center, so my exposure to blood, pus, vomit, diarrhea is limited, thank God!  If you work in a hospital setting, you will see your share.

Radiologic technologists (the proper term for an x-ray tech) do more than just x-rays of bones. We do fluoroscopy studies (involving the intestinal tract and barium), arthrograms (assisting the radiologist with injecting contrast or dye into joints for evaluation) and myelograms (assisting the radiologist with injecting contrast into the spinal canal). If you work in a hospital setting, you will do portable exams in ICU, CCU, the ER and even surgery (here is where the blood comes in).  Some RTs take x-rays in the morgue.

Most RTs will also become proficient and licensed in other modalities, such as mammography, CT and/or MRI.  This training does not require any additional formal training, and is usually learned on the job.  The more licenses you have, the more money you can make, as you will be in higher demand. With additional schooling, you can also do ultrasound.

At the following site, you can find accredited RT programs.  If you look at the details (under "view), you can get the cost and duration of each program:

http://www.jrcert.org/cert/Search.jsp

The American Society of Radiologic Technologists just did a large salary survey, in 2007. The salary varies, depending on your experience, specialties and geographical area. To view, the survey, and see the average salary in your state, you can go to this link:

https://www.asrt.org/media/pdf/research/...

If you divide the yearly salary by 2080 (40 hours per week X 52 weeks), you can get an average hourly salary.

I like being a RT, but what I like, you might absolutely hate.  I suggest you do an observation in an imaging department.  It would give you a great opportunity to see what a RT does on a daily basis, plus you could talk to RTs in your area.  It would be a wonderful source of information.....

Answer 2

If your friend is a radiologic technologist, she may have taken prerequisite classes online, but accredited radiologic technology programs cannot be done online. They are 40 hours per week for 2 years. You can find more information about radiology careers here: https://www.asrt.org/content/aboutthepro...