Unlocking Opportunities: The Top 5 Reasons to Pursue a Career in Radiologic Technology

Welcome back to another episode of A Couple of Rad Techs Podcast! I'm your host, Chaundria Singleton, and in today's episode, we're diving into the exciting world of radiologic technology. Whether you're a seasoned technologist or a student exploring career options, this episode is for you. 

Today, we're going to uncover the top five reasons why becoming a radiologic technologist is an exceptional career choice. From the high demand for professionals in the field to competitive salaries and continuous advancements in technology, we'll explore how this profession offers unparalleled job stability and opportunities for growth. 

But that's not all! We'll also explore the intricacies of working as a radiologic technologist, such as the importance of certifications, the challenges of operating cutting-edge equipment, and the different specialties within the field. 

Join me as we dive into the world of radiologic technology and discover why it's an exciting and fulfilling career. So, whether you're interested in the high demand, the competitive salaries, the continuous advancements in technology, the opportunities for growth, or the unparalleled job stability, this episode has something for everyone. Let's get started!

radiologic technologists, radiology, physical limitations, injuries, shoulder injuries, back injuries, pulled muscle, patient protection, certifications, MRSO, leadership certifications, informatics certifications, education, career opportunities, technological advancement, scanning technology, sign-on bonuses, salary, East Coast, specialties, ultrasound, MRI, cardiovascular technology, radiation therapy, nuclear medicine, echo technology, medical imaging technicians, ultrasound machines, patient care, technology advancements.

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Transcript

Chaundria: 0:40

Welcome to A Couple of Rad Techs Podcasts. I'm Chaundria and today's podcast, we're gonna explore the fascinating world of radiology and the technology side of it, as always. But in today's episode, I'm gonna uncover the top five reasons why becoming a radiologic technologist is an exceptional career choice. So you wanna stay tuned. Go ahead and leave a review. Let us know what you even think about that topic, but. Make sure you listen to this podcast, whether you're a radiology student or you're a seasoned technologist. From a high demand to competitive salaries, continuous technology advancements, opportunities for career growth, and unparalleled job stability. We'll delve into the key factors that make this field of radiology so compelling. So whether you're a healthcare enthusiast or a tech aficionado, stay tuned and we'll shed light on the remarkable journey of a radiologic technologist. Let's dive right in. So welcome to a couple of Rad Tech podcasts. Again, I'm Chaundria Singleton, and we're gonna get right into this discussion. Is radiology being a radiologic technologist a good career choice? Yes, it is. These are the five reasons why I say yes. And you guys, you will see the growth that this. This radiology field has in it. Number one, we are in high demand. That's number one. High demand. Number two, competitive salary. You can't beat our salary for the schooling, for what we do, our expertise, just bar none. Continuous technological advancement. Yes, there's some things on the horizon when it comes to the radiology field. That will blow your mind. Opportunities for career growth. There are so many opportunities for career growth. Number five. Number five is the clincher job, stability and security. In my 21 years, I have never ever, and yes, I'm gonna say this, never ever had a problem getting, keeping, finding, wanting a job. I am at the point where I have to turn down jobs. Yes. Turn down jobs. Who wants that problem? Well, if you want that problem, you might wanna look into radiology. No, you, you definitely wanna look into radiology. So let's get into this podcast. I would love to know, I should have made this podcast a Live, because I know the chat would be popping right now with comments. Let me know. In the comments, if you're watching this, please tell me which one of those five would make you stay or want to go into the radiology field. So my husband and I are both technologists for several years. We've both been, we've got a little years behind us, but some of you out there have way more years. So I definitely wanna hear from you guys, but the high demand, I don't think in my 21 years I've ever seen the demand in radiology. So, big. Tell me what you think in the comments. Leave a review, let me know. Because I've seen it in other modalities, but it's like across the board, across the board, there is a overwhelming shortage in healthcare period. But radiology, I'm gonna speak on what I know. I don't know anything else because I don't do anything else. I've never done anything else in the medical field. Radiology is it. And I don't plan on leaving until I retire you guys. And even then, the beautiful thing, this is another thing I'm gonna say. I'm gonna add number six to it. Let me give a bonus as to why this should be your career choice. Our bodies don't break down. Very rarely you're gonna find a technologist in radiology that is just beat down physically. We have such a beautiful career choice to where you'll find radiologic technologist in any modality still even working into their seventies and eighties, and they physically can still do it. Most of the time in healthcare, people's shoulders go out, their backs go out, you know, all kind of things. I mean, I've had injuries, don't get me wrong, but it's not because of the job. It's, I'll tell you, the one injury that I had I was out for three months, pulled muscle in my back, and it wasn't because of the radiology. It was another department. Which, which will remain nameless, another department that did not secure the patient, and the patient would've harmed himself and fallen, and I was the buffer between that and injured myself. That was the only reason. It was not the radiology job. If another department had taken care of what they were supposed to do, we would not even have had that happen in our department. My job is not as physically taxing. We in the radiology field are able to stay in our positions and our careers and even retire out of them. Still vibrant and healthy. Right? What other career is like this? I'm just gonna throw that as a bonus. Let me know if that was a good bonus you guys. So we're gonna talk about the high demand. Or should we talk about the competitive salary? I mean, I don't think I could go wrong with either one. They're all just great. Now that continuous technological advancement, I want to talk about that too because my career in 21 years, I've seen and done a lot. I haven't done it all, but I am blessed to have been able to do so many things because of the technology advancement. And you guys, I'm gonna tell you, it's gonna blow your mind. The advancement is on the horizon. I'll probably be out of the field by the time a lot of stuff actually comes around. Yeah, I'll probably be out of the field by then, but it's gonna be exciting to watch from the sidelines because I do not plan to be working in really anything. I'll definitely always keep my license. That's a beautiful thing. Our license is good. You can even put it on retired status. I should make that a podcast'cause I know other licenses, nursing license. They can do things like that too. But, We have different statuses for our license. You don't have to just put it inactive. So if you wanna pop back in and do some P R N or some travel work, you can, you have opportunities for career growth. I'm gonna talk about my personal experiences because I don't have a guest, so this is just gonna be me. I enjoy talking about the radiology field, the job stability and security. I'm gonna tell you my personal experience with that. It's been a very good one. And my family, my husband does radiology as well, and we have never had a problem securing employment and quality employment at that. Not just anything. I mean, I've had a bummed job before, but that was. I don't know what I was thinking when I took that, but you know, but it is what it is and it served its purpose. That's how you look at things. High demand. There is a need for radiology services. I don't care. I get calls. I probably get a lot, five to seven texts a day. After the 10 phone calls of people, like I had, one guy called me, he said,"Do you know anybody that does MRI? I'll pay you a finder's fee. You don't have any family, any." I literally, I said, sir, I'm sorry. I, I'm at work. I can't, I don't know anybody. None of none of my folks are looking like, None of my folks are looking for jobs. They're good. They've either, I have friends who have signed sign on bonus deals, so they have to stay there for X amount of years to keep, get that sign on bonus. And I'm gonna tell you, if you know how to work a sign on bonus, like I. When these sign-on bonuses come, you don't see them often, but we are in such high demand. That's the other thing how you're going to, I just did a podcast about leveling up your financial abilities when it comes to radiology making that, that increase in finances just within the radiology field, you guys sign-on bonuses are not bad. Don't let people fool you into thinking that sign-on bonuses are terrible. If a hospital has a very high sign-on bonus, you don't wanna be there. Maybe they don't wanna be there. But I'm gonna tell you now, if they're offering a a, a reasonable, very good sign on bonus, and you are a confident, competent technologist, and you have a plan and a goal, and that money fits into your goal, and that timeline fits into your goal, you can always negotiate that sign on bonus. You could always negotiate to make it work for you. They need you. You don't need them. That's the difference. When it's a high demand, they need you. You don't need them. Negotiate, know your value. I am a huge proponent on that. When I hear people, I drove trucks to FedEx before I went to radiology school, and I made doggone good money and I had no degree. I made great money, had great benefits, great stock, all kind of stuff. So why am I gonna go to school for all of this? Make less than what I made. Driving trucks not happening. That was my rationale. Number one, I knew my value and I had done the work in understanding how to make money and do what I love. So there is a high demand you guys. Don't worry about, oh, I might've missed a travel tech train where people were making us globs of money. Okay, yeah. That's crisis money. That's not travel money. That was crisis money. There is a big difference. Travel rates and crisis rates have always been different. I've done both and they're totally different. Like one day I'm gonna do a podcast when I feel comfortable talking about that because I'm not really comfortable talking about those assignments, those crisis assignments. But I'm tell you, They are not travel assignments. So if you're new to it, don't let people make you think, make you believe that. The travel rates have just gone in. Now. They are lower than what they were, but it also depends on your agency. Now I'm getting off track. Let me go back. But this kind of fits in high demand because I want you guys to really understand there are ways to leverage this beautiful field that we are in of radiology when it comes to the high demand. You got sign on bonuses, you've got higher rates, you've got ways to bargain, and you gotta know how to do it. These are times where you can say, We're in such high demand. I've been, this is how I got into M R I, high demand, but it's not enough technologists to fill the gap. I wanted to do M R I. They wouldn't let me cross train at this particular hospital. No hospital would let me cross train. They wanted to keep me in CT because they had such a shortage and you know, I was a great worker and I had been there for years working any kinda shift they needed. And you know, I was making a good money, had whatever I needed as far as shift. It was a cool job. Loved my coworkers, but I knew I wanted to go ahead and get more training and I felt like I had done good by them. And I wanted to leverage that because they were having a hard time. This particular hospital was having a hard time keeping m r I techs. I'll talk about why they were it wasn't so much a shortage, but it was a shortage of people that wanted to deal with what was going on at the hospital. I used that because they were in need of a M R I tech that could fit into that department. That's how I got my training in M R I. That's how I became an M R I tech. Use the situation for your benefit. This is the time. Whether you're a seasoned technologist in radiology or a student technologist or somebody thinking to come into the field. Don't worry about, oh, I'm not in school yet for radiology. You guys, before I got into school, I was seeing all these travel jobs. Like the travel jobs. It was a shortage when I first got into school. And by the time I got out, do you know when I graduated, there was not a shortage anymore. Travel was like zero wasn't happening. The pay was not all that great. And I was like, you know what? It happened right when I got outta school. But look, things come back around and through my 21 years, things have come up and down, up and down. It's just the thing, are you gonna be ready? Are you gonna be ready? Are you gonna be knowledgeable? That is what my radiology podcast is going to help you do. It's going to talk about the real technology side of things. Now other things that make our modalities, modalities in radiology have a high demand is the aging population. Most people, just because your radiology hasn't aged your body doesn't mean you wanna work to 70 or 80 in it, right? So once people's kids get outta school college ages and they are at retirement age, they start phasing out of the radiology field. So now you have a bunch of open jobs. And think of what the pandemic did. Did it did a number on every business and healthcare. It really, really socked healthcare. A lot of people who were not even at retirement age just said, you know, I'm out. I'm taking early retirement, I'm retiring. I've got enough money. I've got another business. I can, you know, I can do without this, my health is not the best or I, I just wanna enjoy life. A lot of people. Lost loved ones. They, they lost people very close to them. Not just one, not just two, several, me included. And it really makes you look at life differently and really evaluate where your priorities are. So people aged, people just decided, hmm. I'm gonna back out and go ahead and take my leave now. So it opened up a lot of jobs faster than was expected. So they're the high demand in radiology. Also, people get sick, you know, technologists get sick through my years, you know, sometimes technologists. Family members got sick, they're taking care of parents. They can no longer work that shift. And it's hard to feel maybe a shift someone's been in for a long time. That's one of those odd shifts that nobody likes. So that can make that position be in high demand. Yeah. So then the other part is you don't have enough people to fill the positions that are now open because they need to be filled with qualified individuals, not just someone who passed the registry. That doesn't mean you can go into every situation. I've been doing it for 21 years and I wouldn't go get any job. I'm not qualified to just get any job. I don't know, interventional could I be trained in it? Yeah. I did it for a while. But that was so many years ago. I just can't even jump back in the x-ray. So you need qualified technologists to meet that growing demand because, just because, I'll give you an example. I've hired M r I techs for positions when I was in management and those technologists. Yeah, they've done M R I for a year in school working in the hospital. But let me tell you, working in the hospital, working at the orthopedic clinic, working for a spine surgeon is two different things. You guys, just because you could scan in a hospital on a brand spanking new bells and whistle scanner doesn't mean you know how to scan on something in a doctor's office or something in the outpatient clinic, I. Totally different. Some totally different. And the type of patients that come in are gonna be different from hospital-based patients. I, I'm just, I'm just speaking the truth. I still sometimes look and see like, isn't this supposed to be easier in outpatient? But it's not always easy in outpatient high demand. For those four reasons, I think I gave you five high demand. Now, competitive salary. Woo. This is what makes radiology another good choice. I just did a TikTok and a reel on I, I stitched a nurse who was saying when he started in nursing, I forget what year he started, but when he started he was making$21 an hour. I. Tell your story. True life, personal story. This is my story. I didn't hear it from anybody. This is the truth. I was working this, I don't even remember what year it was, but it had to be before I was, when I first started doing M R I, I was working with this nurse. We worked all the time together, so we were very comfortable talking about pay. Money, personal things.'cause we knew each other. We had worked together for years. So she was telling me, yeah, you know, I've been working here for X amount of years and I'm making$16. All I heard was$16. I didn't get to the cents. And I was like, she worked six$16 an hour. What in the world now? I started doing M R I in 2006, I think 2006. Probably was like 2006 to eight. I don't know. Somewhere around there. But as a nurse, I was like, and my face, she was like, you make more than that. I was like, girl. Yeah. From the time I finished school. Driving trucks. I made more than that, but I was like, why did you take that? Like we were cool like that. And she was like, well, I was a new nurse and I needed, but now I'm thinking about going ahead and leaving because they won't up my pay. I'm like, no, your pay needs to be upped. Like, oh my goodness. Competitive salaries. People don't know that in radiology you usually come out making high twenties. Sometimes mid thirties. I know the stories I just ran on social media. People are seeing what they're making straight outta school and they're in their thirties doing an X-ray or high twenties. That's not bad. Just getting outta school with a two or four year degree, that's really good. And most people in their twenties making that kind of money. Twenties, thirties, no kids. No. No responsibilities like that. That's huge. You guys, I mean, do you know how big that is? Competitive salary as a radiologic technology technologist. It's true. We have statistics. The average salary for a radiologic technologist. I'm gonna just start on the East Coast. What do you guys think it is? And that's the radiologic technology just coming straight outta school. In radiology, we're not talking about specialties like ultrasound specialties like MRIs, specialties like cardiovascular technologist, radiation therapists, nuclear medicine, technologist echo tech. I mean, you get an ultrasound, you're not just talking about scanning bellies for babies. They're doing vascular scans. Which increases your pay tremendously. You've got MRI techs that do different things. They, you have a pet ct, nuc med, pet some nuc meds can, nuc med techs can do CT scans. I mean, there are so many ways that make our modality so competitive when it comes to the salaries. I'm trying to make sure people know that radiology is a medical profession that is the third largest, and we have the salaries to back it up. We have the high demand to back it up. Now you have potential for higher salaries when you have more experience. So of course, the longer you're doing anything, you become more more of an expert in it, right? So if you're doing the job now as a rad tech, Hone some skills, get some more skills, get more certifications. They have M R S O certifications, so if you're an M R I, you can get safety certifications. If you're in leadership, you can get more leadership certifications, advancement education, different education advancements. So there are different Waste pacs. That's a whole nother thing. I mean, pacs, you can do informatics, healthcare, informatics, and radiology, and all those certifications go along with it. That just UPS your ability to increase. Your salaries, you guys, without having to maybe work full time and go to school or the school would be a little, would be minimal, maybe, you know, or you could learn it on the job and then go sit for a certification. There are so many ways that you can make your salary competitive and increase your salary. And the other thing is you have competitive salaries comparing your salary range with other healthcare professionals. Now of course, I wouldn't compare myself to someone, say in Philadelphia. Of course not. I've worked in Philadelphia before and lemme tell you, but they make staff wise, hourly is totally different from the south and sometimes when you go even more south, I hear some technologists in say, like the state of Florida, everybody wants to live in Florida. You have to take that into account too. Everybody wants to live in Hawaii. Everybody wants to live in Florida on the beach, south Florida. Everybody wants to be near Disneyland and live in Orlando, but nobody wants to live in Wyoming. Not like that, not year round. Nobody wants to live in Maine year round. So hence the salaries, especially with travel, are gonna be a little higher probably because high demand, low inventory of technologists. The salaries will become more competitive, especially if you have the experience of specialization and the ability to be flexible on where you move. Right? So those are the top two. Now, the third one. Continuous technological advancement. Y'all, AI is jumping into radiology. Yes. I mean, the ability to scan remotely is another thing. I remember doing the applications job over 10 years ago, and there was something going on with the scanner and the person that owned the company I was contracting with, they were like, let me show you something. They remotely jumped into the scanner. This was way before anybody knew anything about at least me. I'm gonna talk about me. I didn't know anything about AI over 10 years ago. Not a thing. I still don't know much about it, but I do know what it is, but I still don't know much about it. But he was able to remotely jump in, do the scanning. Literally just had to put the patient on the table. He was like, this is being developed now. It's gonna be. Ready. It's gonna be a long time before it's ready, but it's gonna be ready. I was like, well, this is so cool. Who could have ever thought you could scan someone from home? Yes, someone from home. So this is actually a thing now. Now a lot of places don't have it, but it is a thing and major hospitals are doing it. So continuous technological advancement, which allows you to be able, but again, to do those, not everybody just can't scan from home'cause it's just a connection disconnect. When you are not putting that patient on the table, you really have to be able to explain how to position someone and put someone on the table. And you scan it from a whole nother state or a whole nother building, like you're not even present there. If they don't put that patient on the table correctly. I don't care how good you scan, it's not gonna work. It's not going to work. And you have to also make sure safety wise, so there are some things, but the technology advancements are bananas. Oh my goodness. And you have to also take education in order to maintain and operate this advanced equipment. So I did applications for a while in. I actually went to Siemens and trained there as applications tech, and I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot about the machines and the technology side of it, the physics side of it. It was some amazing, amazing training. I definitely look forward to going back and getting more training like that. That was, it blew my mind. So you have to know how to operate the machines. That's number one. It's not just sitting back pushing a button. Buttons, just they do light up, but buttons don't light up like that. To tell you, press this. Press that. If I try to go to an ultrasound machine, I went to one today, we were moving it around and I wouldn't know what depress, I wouldn't know what I mean. It says stuff on there, but I would not, I would not know what depress, and that's what I'm saying, you have to be an expert at operating the equipment as well as patient care as well as, Keeping up with the technology because these scanners change. Oh my goodness. I went into a, a hospital with the spanking break, new scanner, and I'm like, whoa, what are all these things in here? I half the stuff, you know, I'd never seen before because. As a contractor, I don't always get to work in the fancy places. You know, sometimes I do, but most of the time I don't. So I don't see a lot of the brand new equipment unless I go to one of the major scan companies like Siemens and get training. Then I see the brand new stuff or if I happen to get a contract at a brand new place where they've invested in that. But even some big hospitals have not invested in the most up-to-date things. But I'll tell you who does research, m r i places, oh my goodness, they have some of the best scanners and equipment, all the bells and whistles, just amazing. I just. Love, love, love being able to work in research. That was the coolest thing ever. Cutting edge technology. You get the ability to work with cutting edge technology. That again, I, I've said a lot about it, but those are all reasons for me why working in radiology is so, so cool and just it's a yes. One of the five reasons for a yes. And you just get to stay up. On all the latest things, and it all has to do with radiology, and again, it makes you increase your potential for earnings. Now I've got two more opportunities for career growth, but I'm gonna do a part two because I go deeper on those two. Those are the two I really wanna spend time on. So I've hit my threshold of time for this podcast. Let me know how you enjoyed this. Was this helpful? I did three reasons out of the five comeback for part two because I'm going to finish the last two of why. You definitely wanna be a radiologic technologist, and it will be one of the best career decisions that you ever made. And if you're already a technologist, let's go for the advancement. You guys increase that earning potential and really take advantage of this amazing career that we have. Until next time.