What do Radiologic Technologists Do?

Radiologic technologists are the medical personnell who perform diagnostic imaging examinations and administer radiation therapy treatments. They are educated in anatomy, patient positioning, examination techniques, equipment protocols, radiation safety, radiation protection and basic patient care. They may specialize in specifice imaging technique such as bone densitometry, cardiovascular interventional radiography, computed tomography, mammography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine, quality management, sonography or general radiography. The radiologic technologists who specialize in radiation therapy, which is the delivery of high doses of radiation to treat cancer and other diseases, are radiation therapists and medical dosimetrists.

Registered radiologic technologist, know as “RTs”, must complete at least tow years of formal education in an accredited hospital based program or a two or four year educational program at an academic institution and must pass a national certification examination. to remain registered, they must earn continuing education credits

Radiologic Technologists on the Medical Imaging Team

Radiologic technologist who preform imaging examinations are responsible for accurately positioning patients and ensuring that a quality diagnostic image is produced. They work closely with radiologists, the physician who interpret medical images to either diagnose or rule out disease or injury. For the images to be interpreted correctly byt the radiologist, the imaging examination must be performed properly by a radiologic technologist.

Who Are Radiologists?

Radiologists are physicians who earn a four year doctoral degree to become an MD or DO. They then complete a four year residency in diagnostic radiology or radiation oncology. More than 90 percent of radiologists go on to become certified by the American Board of Radiology, indicating that they have passed a standardized national examination in radiology.

For more information on the field of radiology, we encourage you to visit our mother organizations (ASRT) website at www.asrt.org