u/VikingFinacial

I’m a rad tech — CT, MRI, X-ray, about 15 years in, senior level, also have an MBA. I don’t hate it, but the love is gone, and I can’t picture doing the exact same thing for another 20 years.

Here’s the trap I’m in: when I look up from the scanner, the only two paths I can see are grind out the same role forever, or move into middle management — which I’m not even sure I want. That feels like a dead end, and I don’t actually believe those are the only options. I just can’t see the others from where I’m standing.

So I’m asking people who’ve been here:

If you left clinical/rad imaging (or a similar long hands-on healthcare role), what did you go do?

Did you stay in healthcare or leave it entirely — and do you regret which way you went?

What’s out there that uses the clinical/technical background without being stuck at the machine or stuck in management?

Honestly, what I’m really trying to figure out is what kind of work would fit my nervous system and let me actually excel, instead of just tolerating it. I’m way better at building systems and solving problems than doing the same repetitive task forever. Monotony drains me; figuring things out lights me up.

Open to anything — healthcare-adjacent, a totally different field, whatever. Just want to hear what’s actually worked for real people. Thanks

41, 15 years in healthcare (clinical imaging), MBA, no formal IT job yet but building toward security. I’m already inside a large health system on the clinical side.

Current plan: SC-300 (this month) → HITRUST CCSFP → SailPoint → eventually CISSP, aiming at healthcare IAM or GRC where my HIPAA and clinical-systems experience is the edge. Home lab with Entra/Conditional Access running.

Honest takes wanted, including “this is the wrong order”:

Is this path sane, or am I over-indexing on certs instead of just landing any IT/security-adjacent role first?

2.
As a mid-career switcher already inside a big health system, smarter to push internally or apply out?

3.
Realistically, how long from here to a first security role?

Coming at this from an odd direction. 15 years as a clinical imaging tech (CT/MR/X-ray) in big hospital systems, so I’ve lived inside Epic and PACS access and HIPAA from the end-user side for a long time. Now trying to move into IAM.
Finishing SC-300, planning HITRUST CCSFP next, SailPoint when I can get employer access. Home lab with Entra and Conditional Access set up.

Two questions for people actually doing IAM:

Is a clinical/healthcare background a real differentiator for healthcare IAM roles, or do hiring managers not really care?

What would you actually want to see from someone like me — specific labs, projects, tools — to take me seriously for a first IAM role?

Trying to spend my time on what matters instead of just stacking certs.

I’ve been a clinical imaging tech for 15 years (CT, MR, X-ray, triple ARRT), currently senior CT at a large health system. Got an MBA and I’m finishing my SC-300.
I’m trying to get off the clinical floor into health IT, and I keep landing between two paths: imaging informatics / PACS admin (uses my background directly) or healthcare IAM/security (where I think my HIPAA and clinical-systems experience could set me apart).
For anyone who moved from the modality side into PACS/informatics or into health IT security: how did you actually do it, what was the first role, and would you pick the same path again? Also trying to get a straight answer on how real the pay ceiling is past that first jump.

15-year CT tech with SC-300 in progress, looking at PACS/informatics vs. IAM — anyone made this jump?

Has anyone gone from any modality into IT/ Security or Health Informatics? How hard was it? Was the salary much better? And how did you get your foot in the door. I am at a cross roads, where I either stay at my position for another 20 years or I go into Management. So I’m looking for advice and my options. Thanks.

I’m a senior CT technologist (15+ years in HIPAA-regulated hospital systems — Epic, PACS, role-based access) making a deliberate move into identity & access management and healthcare security.

Where I am right now:

Sitting the Microsoft SC-300 (Identity & Access Administrator) on July 17

Built a live Microsoft 365 lab tenant — Conditional Access policies, user provisioning, access reviews — to get hands-on instead of just studying

Long-term I’m aiming at IGA (SailPoint) and eventually a security leadership track

What I’m looking for isn’t hand-holding — it’s someone working in IAM who’d be willing to do an occasional check-in (even async) to help me with things like: which skills actually matter early vs. later, how to talk about non-traditional experience in interviews, and where a career-changer’s blind spots usually are.

Happy to keep it low-commitment and respect your time — even a single call to point me in the right direction would mean a lot. Healthcare-IAM folks especially, but anyone in the field welcome.