On to college, being a radiologic technologist doesn’t require a huge amount of college. Knowing computers is an additional thing I found that was important in this line of employment, this is because working the x-ray machine includes working with circuit boards, processors, electronic equipment, computer hardware and computer software. This topic is something I could defiantly learn a lot about. Two years, or an associates degree at a technical school is needed. During these two years my class load would be heavy, some students prefer to space the courses out and go to college for 3 years (Radiologic Technologists and Technicians). Things studied during college are radiation protection, pathology, patient care procedures and medical ethics among other things. After college, you can become certified or licensed by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, certification will help you when applying for a job. To get this certification I would have to pass an exam on everything I learned in college (How To Be an X-Ray…). Another helpful piece of advice I’ve found was that to get more experience you should train or take an intern ship at a hospital , or enlist in an accredited radiography program (How To Be an X-Ray…).
I think when looking for a job or researching a career you should look for one that you already have the personality traits for considering it is hard to change your personality. One trait I think is common sense is, caring for people and being a people person. Through out the day in this field you are helping people, trying to make them less in pain, help them know what is wrong, or talking to various doctors and medical personal. So being someone who can get along with a lot of people would greatly help in this occupation. This is something I feel I would be good at because I enjoy being around people and am a people person. Also I have found out that time management is a good skill or trait to have as an x-ray technologist (Radiologic Technologist). You need to keep in mind at all times the other injured patients waiting to be taken care of. Next I think another skill that goes hand-in-hand with time management is coordination. Career Zone explains this skill as “adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions”. Two more personality traits that I think easily relate to one another are being able to think critically and being able to instruct others easily. The first, critical thinking or logic, is needed when comparing and contrasting individual solutions and outcomes. Critical thinking is needed to instruct others, every situation will be different working in this field (Radiologic Technologist). For example, one day you may be instructing a little boy with a broken arm how to waterproof his cast before showering, where as the next day you could be informing an elderly lady about her broken ankle. Overall I think I have these skills but if I do plan on being a radiologic technologist I should work on my instruction skills.
So far this seems like a rewarding career but when exploring this job I have found two other jobs that are rather thought-provoking, for one, a radiation therapist. People in this career make about the same salary as an x-ray technologist, have more schooling but can provide radiation therapy. These professionals can still take x-rays though (Radiation Therapists). This job sounds nice but an radiologic technologist still sounds better. The next job I came across that I was curious about was a nuclear medicine technologist. People in this career most times have to get a bachelors degree and have a slightly higher salary. Nuclear medicine technology is not about bones and the human body, which is what I’m interested in. This career involves more knowledge, diagnostics, and radiation therapy of the blood, cells, fat and muscles (Nuclear Medicine Technologist). Both of these careers would be more striking if I wanted to broaden my radiologic technologist career.
Even after my research of a radiologic technologist, I have still do not have a great idea of what I want to be when I get out of high school. Radiologic technology has proven to me it is a very interesting field with a lot of room for growth but I’m still not totally convinced that this is the job for me.
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