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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Anybody a radiologic technician?
Lately I have been considering going back to school for a change in careers, and this one is slightly appealing to me (I think). So I thought I'd check on here to see if anyone could talk to me about it. If not, ignore this! 
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Re: Anybody a radiologic technician?
Pretty much anything you can tell me. Are jobs available? Do they like it? Is it a stressful job? What are shifts like? (long hours?) Was the test hard? Was the reason one of your friends didn't finish the program because of problems with the major or was it a personal reason?
Where do they work? From what I've heard, there are a lot of possibilities for RT jobs, like at private doctor's offices, obgyn, hospital, dentist offices. Have any of them thought about going on to ultrasound school? I read that those who are interested in "diagnostic medical sonography" usually go to RT school first. I know, I'm bouncing around a lot.
I briefly looked at the classes for RT and they seem fairly interesting, but tough. I have a BS though so I'm not too worried about being able to handle the school work since I have experience doing it already.
That's unfortunate. The same thing happened to me, which is why I'm looking to go back for something else. I graduated, worked oan internship for a summer, and my last few weeks was when the big crash happened. I haven't been able to find any real jobs yet---only a few internships that weren't really paid (living stipend: just enough for food and to pay for your car & phone IF they give you housing), and one real-paid job but it was only seasonal and lasted 3 months. Ugh.
Most of my friends ended up getting a job where they had their clinicals. We have a good number of hospitals in the area. Hours can be long. There are also other offices as well. One friend started out within a radiology office doing transcriptions that way he was at least already within the field.
The schooling was rough. The friend who is no longer in the program dropped out because where he was attending, if you failed one class you had to start over. Classes aren't offered often. One person in one of my classes went to ultrasound school as did my cousin. My cousin loved it and was employed right after school. It was rough and she moved home and quit her job due to the hours for class and the demand of her classes. One other girl in my class - returned back to our school to go for nursing instead.
If I were in your position, check out the schools as well as program requirements. For some medical fields, classes expire after 5 years. Here, you have to have your application in by Feb 1 and a few others Feb 15 for the medical programs.
Some also require science pre-reqs that you may not have.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to tell me that information.
I have been looking mainly at this program (it's a pdf of classes) because it's in Butte, MT and with any luck DH will get the job there he applied for and we can move. Or this one, which is in Idaho. Of course, I'm not totally banking on either of these but I was beginning my research into this possible area of interest.
I got a bachelor of science degree from a state university (of new york) in ecology, but after working (and trying to work) in that field I've discovered I don't like it all that much, and was hoping getting an RT degree would give me more work options. I will have to look into what the job market looks like out here for that. I love the theory of ecology and everything I learned in college, but most of the real-world stuff that I have been doing hasn't really been much related. When you're in college they don't tell you that ecology actually means you'll be doing nothing but plant transects IF you get a real ecologist job. Not exactly my cup of tea! And I used to love field work....but after doing it for a few years I've kind of lost my enthusiasm for it. That's when I can find a job at all!
So I do at least have somewhat of a headstart in some type of science, and I have the regular general education requirements already out of the way. I don't have much in the way of physiology though--I took ecophysiology in college and I don't think that will be very helpful! lol.
Thanks again, and I will keep looking into it. I have been looking at more schools than just Montana Tech and Idaho, depending on all the different places DH is applying. He's a GS-9 range specialist and is looking to move up to a GS-11, so he's applying for offices with that opening.
I'm an RT. By the way, we are radiologic technologists, not technicians.
When I finished clinicals 20 years ago, the job market was good for new grads - now, not so much. And yes, the board exam is tough.
Shifts depend on the facility. In a hospital, it can be 5 eight-hour shifts, 4 ten-hour of 3 twelve-hour depending on staffing needs. In an outpatient setting, they are more typically 5 eight-hour shifts but can also vary.
Yes, the work is stressful, especially if you are working in general radiography (where every new grad starts) in a hospital. In that scenario, there is a lot of physical labor and, in departments like ER/OR, you will have multiple physicians all expecting you to prioritize his/her needs above all the other physicians.
Once you get some experience you may (depending on the job market) go into specialization in places like vascular procedures, cardiac cath lab, CT, MRI, or cardiac electrophysiology where I am now.
Most of my friends went to SUNY schools as well. The programs you linked are very similar to those. It is worth looking into. I went back to school for a career change into the medical field. I thought about it for awhile and finally jumped in. I cannot stress how happy I am with my decision. Sometimes the classes weren't really something in line with what I wanted but I had to step back and look at the larger picture.
Good luck!!
Thank you for correcting me! I think I am too used to the term technician because that's what my job titles have always been (biological science technician, ecological technician, fisheries technician....).
Thank you everyone for your responses!!
I'm late but I have a little perspective because I was accepted to an RT program and quit halfway through last year.
My program was selective. As in, over 100 people applied for 16 slots. It was at my local community college and it is very popular because of the lower cost and MUCH better reputation than the local for-profit schools (ie, Keiser, other tech schools). This college was also just voted best JC in the country. Therefore, if you were a grad of this program, your chances of finding a job (mainly at the places you did clinicals if you stayed local) would be much higher than the non-accredited programs in the area.
I, too, already have a degree (a BA in English Lit) and wanted a change. I did really well in the program (did 1 of the 2 years) and had clinicals at a hospital and the VA. The program was very demanding time-wise, and they did not let you miss days at all. It was also much less interesting than I thought it would be. I was doing tons of exams everyday in clinicals, while the techs basically used us students as worker monkeys. It was a lot of repetition and I have to say, I longed to just look out of a window after awhile. It is kind of depressing if you are the type of person who loves light and a more comfy atmosphere.
The hospital sucked for me. I think you either like that environment or you really hate it. I hated it. The VA patients were great (old men vets) but the techs all HATED their lives and just wanted to get out of there. So, I didn't like either experience. The few weeks I did love was my ortho rotation which was in a Dr's office. People were friendlier, the environment wasn't dismal and it was all good. Except for the fact that in those settings, generally, you won't make much money at all. A hospital job is just going to pay much better.
All in all, I was getting married and they wouldn't bend on any missed days and I started to loathe it anyway. Jobs in my area (Florida) are not the greatest either for the field. I ended up searching around and actually found a job with my previous employer where I am happy.