The Role of a Radiologic Technologist
Radiologic technologists administer X-rays to help diagnose medical problems. According to the 2008-2009 U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, employment for radiologic technologists is expected to continue to grow. While formal training is required to become a radiologic technologist, training is offered in hospitals, at colleges and occasionally at technical institutes. Radiologic technologists, like most professionals in health care, take on many roles.
Preparing patients
Radiologic technicians must properly prepare patients for an X-ray. That includes explaining the procedure, finding and removing anything on the patient that can not be put through the X-ray, and placing patients in the correct position for the X-ray. It is important that radiologic technicians have the physical capabilities to lift disabled patients. Some radiologic technologists also take equipment to patients' homes to perform procedures.
Operating equipment
Radiologic technologists work with several pieces of equipment. After the radiologic technologist has prepared the patient, he must control the size of the radiation beam by strategically placing lead shields around the exposed area. The X-ray machine is then placed over the patient's body in a specific way and settings regarding the thickness of the radiographed section are selected. After placing film under the patient, it is exposed and developed.
Administrative duties
Like most health care professionals, radiologic technologists have administrative duties. This includes patient file responsbilities, preparing schedules, promoting equipment purchases, and maintaining equipment. According to the 2008-2009 U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, most full-time radiologic technologists work 40 hours per week, but some of those hours may be on-call, during weekends or in the evening. As the population ages, the demand for medical imaging will continue to grow.
Role with co-workers
Radiologic technologists work under physicians' orders. However, radiologists (doctors that evaluate X-rays) could not interpret X-rays and diagnose injuries without the work of radiologic technologists. Radiologic technologists often choose to specialize in a particular area of medical imaging and therefore work closely with specialized physicians. For example, radiation therapists administer radiation to treat cancer and therefore work closely with oncologists.
Related occupations
With continued education, many radiologic technologists become specialists. This includes: computed tomography (CT) technologists, mammographers, nuclear medicine technologists and radiographers. For a complete list of the different divisions within radiologic technology go to the American Society of Radiologic Technologist's homepage at www.asrt.org. Radiologic technologists can also go on to teach in radiologic technology programs or sell radiologic equipment.
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