r/NuclearMedicine

Hey guys just a question because I’m confused and don’t want to screw my scan up. My arrival time is 12:15, injection is at 1:00, and scan is at 2:30. I was instructed low sugar diet, no food 6 hours before, but I can have a protein breakfast such as eggs. I abhor eggs so I was going to make a cold cut / lunch meat sandwich but then I read that I’m supposed to completely abstain from sugar the day of my scan? Do I need to just suck it up and eat the eggs? What time should I eat? Thank you in advance ❤️

**EDIT** y’all are so helpful 😭 thank you!! Can I ask one more question.. how quickly does my doctor get the results? My follow up appointment is May 28th but she said I’ll get a call sooner if it’s something bad and I’m already very anxious. The scan is being done at the same hospital the doctor is affiliated with.

I’m located in Northern California. I’ve had a few interviews, but no luck in securing a position. I’m willing to travel somewhere else for work. Does anyone have any advice? I’m feeling a bit discouraged

Can someone explain to me what I can expect with this? I see three days on my schedule. I’ve had severe Gastro pain since an endometriosis surgery. It was growing all over my bowels so that might have something to do with it. I’m having just pretty bad constipation since the surgery too. I also have pots and I’m really worried that I’m gonna have a reaction to whatever tracer is in the study. I’ve had strange reactions to so many different things, including gadolinium from MRIs. And a cardiac response to CT contrast. Basically just a lot of things send me into SVT. Is this safe? Is it worth the cancer risk? I keep reading about how there’s really not much that can even be done for slow motility, so I’m curious as to why we are testing it.

I was wondering if the coursework for the PCC online Nuclear Medicine program is asynchronous or synchronous?

I also wanted to ask how the overall schedule is structured especially clinical hours and class expectations and about how much tuition typically ends up costing.

Any insight from current or past students would be super appreciated. Thank you!

Hello everyone!!

I am currently a student and just finished my second semester of my nuclear medicine program, and I have coded some websites that have helped me a bit since I am more of a visual learner and like to interact more to learn 😭

One of them is an interactive “nuc body” map where you can click on different organs and see the radiopharmaceuticals, studies, doses, routes of administration, and other information associated with them. It’s helped me organize everything a lot better instead of trying to memorize it all from slides and notes.

I also made a simulated Ludlum spectrometer website to practice things like identifying isotopes, adjusting settings, and getting more familiar with the equipment outside of class/lab time.

I’m still adding more things, but if anyone has ideas for other websites or simulators that would actually be helpful for nuclear medicine students, let me know 😭

Ludlum Simulator:
https://ludlum-simulator.vercel.app

Nucbody Rp Map:
https://nucbody-map.vercel.app/

I know I have asked this before. But is ARRT smarter to take first because it’s deemed easier? Or should I schedule the other one before to get a gage. also, was there a book that had the same or similar questions to the boards? I’m curious. I don’t feel confident

I was hoping one of you could answer my question and ease my mind a little bit. I just found out I’m pregnant last week and I am starting my new nuc med job this week. I already let my lead tech know and I declared my pregnancy. The thing is, is that they do not yet have my dosimeters for me. My lead tech is on vacation and the manager of radiology is trying to accommodate me. He suggested wearing a lead apron. Is this the correct thing to do? The set up of the department is two cameras in a large open room with almost no alcove for the technologists. This is a very different set up than I’m familiar with. I am very early in my pregnancy (4.5 weeks) and I want to do everything I can do make sure I am being safe. I really appreciate any feedback any of you have for me. 

Hey everyone! I’m considering applying to the Nuclear Medicine Technology program at Hillsborough Community College and wanted to hear experiences from current students or graduates.

For background, I’m currently finishing a kinesiology degree (have completed all prereqs) and have healthcare/patient experience, but I’m trying to decide between this path and DPT school.

A few things I’m wondering:

-How competitive was admission? Does my situation make me more competitive vs. traditional applicant?

-What was your GPA/prereq GPA when accepted?

-What does the weekly schedule look like?

-Is it possible to work part-time during the program?

-How far were your clinical sites from where you lived?

-How difficult was it to find a job? Starting pay?

-How are the instructors/program organization overall?

I’d really appreciate any honest advice, pros/cons, or things you wish you knew before starting. Thanks!

hi! i am wondering if anyone have any idea about how much is the salary (provincial rate) in private tertiary hospitals of a nucmed technologist? i will appreciate everyone's insights about this.

i'm calling out all of our nucmed peeps (soft medtech as they say) because i rarely see any posts about nucmed field so please enlighten me and the readers nyehehehe tysm!

So I'm starting my nuc med program shortly and was also just recently hired as an MRI tech assistant as my first ever healthcare job (part-time schedule, works well with school). Applied for months to entry level positions and this was the only one I even got interviewed for, so took what I can get obviously. I'm just curious what this experience will do for my job prospects once I finish my nuc med program. Would it be wise to pursue cross training into MRI right out of school since I'll already have some level familiarity/experience in that modality, or would I be setting myself up to get pigeonholed in MRI and never really get the proper nuc med experience? Do you think it would be easier to find MRI or nuc med work with my experience once I graduate? Will I need to pick one or the other essentially, or is it feasible to do both? Thanks! I appreciate any type of insight

Anybody have any insight on the new Collin County Community College? I was doing some research and it looks like they are in progress of building a health facility in Frisco, Texas and one of the programs will be nuclear medicine tech. Just wandering when the completion will be and how soon you think applications will be accepted.

Hey Everyone, I’m a current State Trooper. I’m a Marine Veteran, so I can cover the program with my benefits. I have children. I want a better work life/balance and I live in Eastern NC.

There is a school near me that offers a two year Nuc Med Technologist program that I am considering attending.

Is there anyone that has made the change I’m considering doing from Law Enforcement? Or is anyone willing to share any advice on whether you think it’s worth a go.

I do believe the starting pay as a NMT is the same, if not higher than the top pay of a Trooper. Any insight would be appreciated. Especially with those who have a family or similar backgrounds.

My small, critical access hospital in Southern Idaho is discussing having the Nuclear Medicine Technologists (so me and my coworker), inject the 99mTc filtered sulfur colloid for a sentinel node tracing prior to breast lumpectomy and lymph node removal. We only have a Radiologist, MD on site every week or two and our new General Surgeon is wanting to be able to do these exams/surgeries more often. I am not finding great information on if this is normal scope of practice for Nuc Techs where you are (if you could include where you live) and if there are specific trainings you went through if you do these injections, instead of the Radiologist, MD. Just trying to look into options for my hospital to look into!

So I am in high school and I really am interested in becoming a nuclear medicine technologist. But I am a little nervous about committing to this career. I live in Philadelphia and all of the programs closest to me are about an hour car ride and have limited availability. I was thinking of attending the program at Delaware Technical Community College after getting the prerequisites needed at my local community college. Then I would be driving an hour both ways for about two years. Is an associates and a certification actually enough to do well in this career? Are there other options I should be considering before deciding on this plan? Also, what if I don’t get into the program😭 Just looking for some insight and general advice

Hi all, I am a recent graduate and am set to start my new job this Monday. This morning I found out I am pregnant.. very very early. I do want to declare my pregnancy but wanted some advice about going about it. Should I contact the lead tech and let her know now? So she could potentially get a belly badge ready for me by my first day? Or should I just wait to see her on Monday and come with a pregnancy declaration? As this will be my first nuclear medicine job I’m unsure of how this all works and the politics behind it. I want to make a good first impression and don’t want this to get in the way.

Thank you so much!

I’m looking into starting a program in either nuclear med or x-ray tech, I’m struggling to decide between them.
For anyone who has experience (in maybe both?) what is the work/life balance like for either of them, what are the hours, how hard was it to find a job and how stressful is the job?

Can someone answer whether it’s okay to take low-dose naltrexone (4.5mg) before a HIDA scan, and if not, how long should I stop it before? I know that morphine may be used to trigger a spasm of the sphincter of oddi, and I’m worried that the naltrexone could block those effects since it’s an opioid agonist.

I’m not really trusting mixed AI responses and would like to hear from someone who knows what they’re talking about. I asked the person who scheduled my appointment but she didn’t know what naltrexone is and told me the morphine was needed because the scan is supposed to be painful.

Also any tips on what to eat for the fatty meal a few hours before the scan as a vegetarian?

I’ve had this burning curiosity about what it was like to work as a Nuclear medicine tech during the COVID pandemic. I‘ve only been working as a tech for about a year now so I don’t know exactly how the pandemic impacted day to day as a NMT. Recent world events have made me particularly keen on having some insight on what our field looks like in that situation so I would love to know about anyone’s experience working as a tech during that time.