Carole South-Winter

Outline

Short-term postgraduate education

Postgraduate education can take one of two routes. The first path is short-term postgraduate education, which requires 1 or 2 additional years of formal education after graduation and certification as a radiologic technologist. One of four separate areas may be pursued in this short-term educational program: radiation therapy, nuclear medicine, sonography, or interventional radiographic procedures.

The radiation therapist, under the direction of the radiation oncologist, delivers radiation therapy treatments by exposing specific areas, usually those affected by tumors, of the patient’s body to prescribed doses of ionizing radiation. In this field, the radiation therapist operates therapeutic equipment such as high-energy linear accelerators, particle generators, brachytherapy equipment, and superficial therapy equipment. The curriculum recommended by the ASRT includes courses such as radiation and radionuclide physics, mathematics, pathology, radiation therapy, radiation safety, oncology, brachytherapy, treatment planning, and records and statistics. After postgraduate training, the candidate is eligible to take the certifying examination of the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) in therapy.

The second area of short-term educational commitment is that of a nuclear medicine technologist. Although helpful for positron-emission tomography (PET) or computed tomography (CT), a background in radiologic technology is not necessary to become a nuclear medicine technologist. A nuclear medicine technologist images patients through the use of a scintillation or gamma camera after patient injection of a radionuclide. Therapy and in vivo studies are also included in this modality. Curricula usually consist of nuclear physics, instrumentation and statistics, health physics, biochemistry, immunology, radionuclide chemistry, radiopharmacy, injection techniques, radiation biology and protection, clinical nuclear medicine, radionuclide therapy, and computer applications. In nuclear medicine, as in radiation therapy, graduates of accredited programs are qualified for certifying examinations in nuclear medicine from the ARRT and the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board (NMTCB).

Sonography, which is the technique in which deep structures of the body are visualized by recording the reflections of ultrasonic waves directed into the tissues, offers a short-term commitment in education, or it can be included in a long-term commitment. Throughout the country, several certificate programs are available in which the candidate majors in sonography techniques; several diplomas and 4-year programs are also available that lead to a Bachelor of Science degree in radiologic technology that include sonography courses in the curriculum. Sonographers, also called ultrasound technologists and diagnostic medical sonographers, use ultrasound high-frequency sound waves to produce images of internal body tissues to help a physician diagnose and monitor a variety of conditions such as heart disease, pregnancy, and cancer. Specialty areas in sonography exist as well.

Cardiovascular technologists perform electrocardiography, ambulatory monitoring, and graded exercise diagnostic examinations, as well as basic x-ray and laboratory procedures. Cardiovascular technologists are employed in hospitals, cardiologists’ offices, cardiology mobile units, and many other health care facilities.

Long-term educational commitment

A long-term higher educational decision should be influenced by present and future trends of the modality and profession. In addition, an assessment of personal skills and abilities and career requirements should be considered. Therefore examining the areas in radiology that can be entered is important, such as radiologist assistant, management, education, coding specialists, picture archiving and communication systems administrator, and computer science. The radiologic technologist has several choices. Some institutions offer carte blanche credits, which are discretionary credits awarded by an institution of higher learning for radiologic technology training, or credits may be earned through challenge examinations.

Successful people set and pursue clear goals for their career, with focused action plans to map their direction. These plans include developing the right connections, making better decisions, and creating an atmosphere of success to propel them on their career path. A career path plan requires a clear vision, a sense of purpose, and direction, which usually includes experience and or education. Career progression can be examined in terms of investment in human capital and its impact over the life cycle on earnings (Adda et al, 2003). Incremental earnings are measured using a starting point by determining the quantity and quality of full-time education, and the accumulation of human capital through on-the-job training (Lowenstein, Spletzer, 1997).

Formal education leads to increased lifetime wages because of the educational investment, but it also involves a substantial investment to start one’s career. On-the-job training is desirable because employees are trained in a specific area, which affects job procurement and job retention. Advantages are inherent to a college degree, including not only significant increases in subject matter knowledge, cognitive, intellectual skills and critical thinking, but also gains in value, attitudinal, psychosocial, and moral dimensions (Pascarella, Terenzini, 2005). Graduates holding baccalaureate degrees have a change regarding attitudes and values in social and political attitudes and in scholarly interest (Pascarella, Terenzini). Research shows that “compared with individuals who have no college experience, bachelor’s degree holders are two to three times more likely to volunteer in their communities, although the degree of involvement varies considerably across the kinds of service rendered” (Pascarella, Terenzini, p. 576). Other positive attributes of a college degree are more positive mind-set in regard to racial equality and increased understanding of cultures other than their own, a belief that racism remains a societal problem, and increased promotion of racial understanding (Pascarella, & Terenzini).

Radiologist assistant

In the 1990s, a shortage of practicing radiologists became evident, and predictions for an increased shortage in the twenty-first century were ominous. The predictions of a shortage became a reality in the twenty-first century, and in the summer of 2002, the American College of Radiology (ACR) decided to move forward in developing, with the ASRT and the ARRT, the radiologist assistant (RA) concept as a physician-extender specifically for radiologists. The first class of RA students began at Loma Linda University in California in the fall of 2004, graduating in 2006. The ASRT developed a standardized curriculum to include patient assessment, management and education, pharmacology, radiation safety, radiobiology, health physics, pathophysiology, and clinical preceptorship.

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