Radiography - A Growing Occupation in the Healthfield

Careers in the health field are almost always available in this modern world we live in. Nurses, Doctors, Laboratory Technicians, Radiologists, Physical Therapists and Physician Assistants are some of the most popular health field career choices.

One other popular option is becoming a Radiography Technologist. Commonly called a rad tech or X-Ray tech, a Radiography Technologist is responsible for taking X-Ray images of patients. Clinics, hospitals, emergency rooms and specialty health offices all hire Radiography Technologists to run their imaging departments.

As an X-Ray tech you will work side by side with nurses, doctors and radiologists. Depending on your professional location your job may vary slightly, but your main responsibility is to take quality radiographic images of the patient. Broken bones, cancer, pneumonia and many other diseases are diagnosed using radiography methods.

Some of the most common methods of acquiring a patient image include: CAT scans, tomography, MRIs, X-rays and ultrasounds. A Radiography Technologist learns all the physical anatomy and every bone structure in the body. Extensive anatomy classes are taken to ensure proper images can be taken with ease. Medical vocabulary is also very important and studied greatly during school.

Most commonly a student who wishes to become a Radiography Technologist will enroll in a two year associate degree program at a local Technical college. The college works together with community hospitals and clinics to ensure a great education and experience is established throughout the two year academic program.

Classes include general education courses, anatomy, physics, and many radiography classes. Also throughout the 2 year program clinical classes will be taken. These clinical hours are spent on the job following and learning from a professional Radiography Technologist. Many skills are learned while shadowing a professional and real job experience is gained. You will learn tricks of the trade and encounter many situations that you can learn from.

After graduation of the college program, you will be ready to take the national board examinations. This test is very extensive and after passing, you will receive your registration and certification to become a Radiography Technologist and will then be ready for the real job! This test is the time to reveal how much you have grown and learned about the health field and radiographic imaging during the past two years.

If you would like to study further, you may continue on in a few different areas. Some X-Ray techs wish to become a Sonographer. A Sonographer is responsible for ultrasound exams. You can also continue your education to become a Radiation Therapist. In this profession you will control radiation therapy for cancer patients among many other things. If you wish to further your career greatly, you can begin the student path to becoming a Radiologist. Radiologists study the images and help the doctors to diagnose and treat patients.

With the ever growing popularity for the health career field, a Radiography Technologist can be an ideal career for anyone. You have the benefits of helping patients with one on one contact without dealing with too much blood if that makes you feel oozy. If you are exploring health careers, look to your nearest technical colleges and see if they have a Radiography program that suites your needs.