What kind of title does one need to do mri's and ct scans?

Question

If the person giving you an x-ray is an x-ray tech, then what would you call someone giving the mri's an ct's, im thinking radiological tech but not sure.., can one obtain this profession with an Asociates Degree in Radiologic Technology?

Answer 1

There are many schools in many states where you can get trained to be a radiologic technologist (the proper term for a x-ray tech).  You can attend a hospital based program (and earn a certificate), a 2 year college program (AS degree), and even a 4 year college program (BS degree). The hospital based programs are the least expensive, and honestly, I think the education received there is superior. Once you graduate and take your registry exam, no future employer is going to care what type of educational program you went through. All they care about is your license. You can find an accredited RT program at this site. Just search "radiography" and your state...links are provided which will give you additional information on each program (cost, duration of program, contact person):

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

RTs 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.  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.

Oh, another good resource....check out the student area of the ASRT website:

https://www.asrt.org/Content/educators/_...

And the ARRT website:

http://www.arrt.org/index.html?content=h...

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/...

Answer 2

Yes, they're "Rad Techs", and it's usually someone who also studied x-rays and other diagnostic imaging techniques. It's usually a two-year associate's degree... Very cheap to get, and great pay if you're flexible enough in where you want to live. After that, you just need to be certified by an accrediting agency to do MRI's and CT's.