r/RadiologyCareers

I'm starting clinicals here in a few weeks. I job shadowed a tech a couple of times. While I thought he did a tremendous job communicating with the patient, making them feel at ease at an uneasy time, and gave me some wonderful tips, he would always end the interaction before parting ways with the patient with, "Be blessed. I'll be praying for you."

I'm not religious. So obviously, I'm not going to be saying that to patients. But the standard, "You have a nice day" feels like something I'd say at my current job as a cashier. Maybe I'm thinking too much into it.

I am a little discouraged in my life right now when it comes to what I want to do as a career. I’ve always wanted to work in a hospital or in an office to help people and my love for learning about diseases. I also enjoy computers, so radiology is a happy medium for me.

However, I am horrible at math and chemistry, I’ve been bad at math since my early school days. I don’t to piss away money for something I’d possibly fail or realize is a big mistake in the end. Chemistry I am way worse at than math, I did horrible in high school.

I also have no desire to hurt people or possibly kill them. I don’t ever want to put a person in a terrible position because I missed something, so I guess what I am wondering here is that is there usually someone who checks over the radiologists work? I think there is, I think a doctor double checks right?

I was considering going into Radiologic Technology (Rad Tech), but after looking into the admission process, I’m a little concerned about how competitive it is.
From what I understand, admission is based partly on prerequisite courses/exams and partly on something like a 60/40 scoring system. Even if you do really well, like scoring around 90%, there’s still no guarantee of getting accepted because the program has a very limited number of seats.
For those who have gone through the Rad Tech admission process: Is it really this competitive? Would you still recommend pursuing it, or should I consider another healthcare program with a better chance of admission?
I’d really appreciate hearing from current Rad Tech students or anyone who has been through the application process.

I’m considering a career change into this field but I made a B in A&P 1. Did I just bomb my chances with that B or has there been folk who got into a program without a 4.0?

Its difficult to stay in that open mouth position. A ball gag would be useful

Recently graduated X-ray school and started a new job in a different modality. It was my first day positioning and I kept messing up. All the images I took had to have repeats/ needed repositioning. I know I’m hard on myself but was wanting to see if anyone else out there maybe had some stories or advice at starting a new job and not feeling adequate?

I think I’m about to start my pre reqs for radiography. What job will make me competitive to get into the program? I’m currently a teller at a credit union and I was assuming I needed to get a job in the medical field in order for it to look better on my resume getting in.

Thanks!

Hello, i’m 25 and recently got back into college. I intend to apply for a radiology program after i finish my pre reqs but i have a few concerns. I’m not passionate about radiography or the medical field. My passion lies with creative things like film and music. I don’t mind working a job that i can tolerate, but what is the work/life balance like as an X-ray tech? Free time is quite important to me and i would love a career that can allow me to be in touch with my creative side, but of course i also need stability. Will being an X Ray tech take away from my creative life? Those of you who are techs, does it feel like you’re working all the time? Do you still have free time to pursue other interests outside of radiology? any advice/personal experiences help.

Edit: while a few of you bring up good points, let me also also add: i don’t have *zero* interest in radiology otherwise i wouldn’t have even considered it. i would never get into a field if i felt i wouldn’t care for the patients i was dealing with. I’m fully aware of what comes with it, my biggest concern will always be my life outside of work though like any normal person. hence the initial question. i appreciate all of the feedback though!!

edit 2: lets try to think realistically about the situation. i promise you guys i am not the only one who’s going into radiology without a raging passion for the medical field - this shouldn’t be a surprise. i am in fact VERY open to learning and enjoying it!! if i truly don’t like it - i wont do it. but i think since im going as far as putting myself in debt to go back to school, i do have some interest in it otherwise id continue to work food service forever. not passionate ≠ not interested. i truly appreciated everyone who’s able to acknowledge this and give me legitimate advice!!

Got accepted into both programs. Rad tech is 2 years, respiratory is 3 max because I have an undergraduate degree. Aiming for 2 year completion. I know the jobs are different but I’m looking for job security, stability and growth.

I’ve heard that they are common as weekend shifts, but I was wondering if there is the option to have a weekday schedule like this as well.

1st year student 2nd clinical rotation here, I’m just wondering if there’s any other good tips on palpating the iliac crest and/or ASIS cause I know I can just walk that up and sometimes I can do that but sometimes I can’t tell if I’m feeling that either. I just wanna know if it gets better with time, because I really suck at it lol. My first site I felt myself getting better at it and I will say those techs were definitely willing to teach and made me feel a lot more confident doing it all on my own and now I’m at a different site and these techs just really don’t like palpating so I’ve been trying to do it without needing to but I’m just not that good at just looking at it yet. Plus I hear mixed things from the techs to use the belly button/not use it (I’d rather not.. I know those hang sometimes!) and some days I’m great at it but then other days like today I’ve just been too low cutting off the top a little bit and I feel like I’m going crazy! Even when I palpate I feel like I’m feeling it and then I see the x-ray and I’m just off and I feel stupid cause I just keep missing that prominence on my own! Of course it’s even mad harder on obese patients, and somehow they can just look at it and tell. (They’re all pretty seasoned, like 10-15+ years.)

Plus the techs just tell me do this, do that before I even get a chance to process whatever adjustment I needed to do so I don’t get to see how exactly they got that position. Idk, just feeling very incompetent some days at this site. I definitely feel like a very average tech. I know truthfully by the time this quarter’s over I will only have done 34 clinical days (I’m rotating through doctor’s offices at the moment, sometimes they’re busy but.. sometimes this one is just dead, so consistent practice is kind of not there either), so maybe it’s that, or maybe I’m just stupid. But yeah, if it gets better, please let me know!

Hello everyone!

I’m 28 years old and new to healthcare. I spent the past 10 years working in finance and logistics before recently making the decision to pivot into healthcare. I earned my CNA license in March, my med tech license in May, and I’m currently completing my prerequisites with the goal of getting into a radiologic technology program.

Honestly, I feel like I have to be perfect just to have a chance of being considered.
When I was 18, I felt pressured to go to college even though I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. I ended up dropping out halfway through the semester with a transcript full of Fs.

Eventually, I got my head on my shoulders and started taking education much more seriously. I went from dropping out of college to being accepted into a private college after getting recommendation letters and even writing to the president of the school. Unfortunately, tuition was around $15,000 per semester, so I could only afford to attend for one semester. I ended up earning a 3.47 GPA during that semester.

One of my professors even told me I could return on a full scholarship as a Biblical Studies major, but at the time, I didn’t see how I could turn that into a career, so I decided to move on.

After leaving, I worked at a bank and then a retirement firm. When COVID happened, I transitioned into logistics. I’ve been fortunate to have good-paying jobs, but I’ve never really felt like I had complete job security. That’s a big reason why I’m making this career change.

Most of the radiology programs I’m looking at require at least a 2.5 GPA. If I work my tail off and earn a 4.0 throughout this next year, my cumulative GPA would still only come up to around a 2.7.

So my question is: Would a college actually consider someone in my situation?
I’m seriously considering reaching out to the program director now, explaining my history and how committed I am to proving myself through my grades and work ethic. I know I can’t change what I did at 18, but I can control what I do now.

My other options are attending a community college that’s almost two hours from my home or paying around $50,000 in tuition at a private college.
Has anyone been in a similar situation with an old, poor college record but a much stronger recent academic history? I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences.

Based on my local community colleges program schedule and the pre reqs I need, I’m looking at best case scenario getting into rad tech program fall of 2028 (if I’m incredibly lucky), worst case scenario fall of 2030-2031 (if I’m unlucky).

Im going to try my best to expedite the timeline, apply to other local programs, etc. However, I need to figure out a back up plan. I’m in my mid 30s and I just can’t see it being feasible to wait 4-5 years just to get into the program.

Looking for any suggestions for an alternate path. Any insight is appreciated.

Hello, I was wondering if any new Rad Tech students would be interested in creating/joining a group chat to discuss the program, send information, updates and resources etc. I would love to make some friends and start organizing study groups/study buddies to help us all succeed. If interested, please reply or dm me.

Edit: This is for NYC btw

Hi all! I am a senior x-ray tech of 8 years at a Level I Trauma Center. I received an offer for a dual modality position (XR/CT) at my dream location at a smaller hospital within the same health system. The problem is that I was only offered $1.90 more for this transition. This seems incredibly low for a new modality, even if it is for a smaller site with less patient volume and acuity. For context, I also hold another position (procedural technologist) where I am compensated almost $7 more to just perform ONE PROCEDURE. I had a friend recently accept an offer for another large hospital (same health system) for just CT and they were offered $6. I told the recruiter I was disappointed with the offer and asked for it to be reviewed with compensation. Is this truly a fair offer? What has been your experience with pay to go into a new modality? I am in Ohio, U.S. for context.

A couple of weeks ago I finished my structured education and exam repetitions. Yesterday my supervisor signed them off and today I scheduled my CT boards for a month from now.

I have been studying on and off, but my main focus has been the structured education (which did double as a study guide of sorts) and the repetitions. But for the next month, I plan on hammering the Mosby's Book and possibly CT Boot Camp. I plan on doing a few hours after work each day and all of my weekends will be dedicated to studying.

But will this be enough? I have seen people who said they really only studied for a month and they were fine. There are even those who claim they only studied for a week or two and passed.

For those of y'all who took the boards, how long did you seriously study? What sources/study guides did you use or find the most helpful?

I do civil tier work (my degree is not in engineering). I really want a career that just allows me to take prolonged time off so I can travel and the idea of being a travelling tech sounds enticing to me. However, my main qualms are if I am able to do this while working at the same time and getting admitted to a school. It seems like virtually every single field has become saturated in 2026 and I also want to know how many people are flooding into this at the moment.

I currently work in a hospital doing medical records and I’m offered free tuition that I’d like to take advantage of. I’ve been looking into Rad Tech and it seems interesting but I’m afraid I might not be smart enough!!! I see I have to take anatomy and I hateddddd that when I did my Aesthetics class.

I know everyone learns and retains knowledge differently. I’m wondering what everyone’s experience with rad tech school was- did you find it difficult? If so what specifically was difficult. Do you recommend getting into this field, etc…