Branches of Radiography?

Question

I want to begin studying Radiography soon, but the facility that I'll be studying at requires that you choose your specialty/branch *before* you begin studying.... so there's no doing a general course first, to give you the opportunity to decide.
The choices are: Diagnostic, Therapy, Nuclear Medicine & Ultrasound. I've tried to ask them for more details on each, but they've been less than helpful. :(
Can anyone give an idea of the day-day tasks each will be doing. And an idea of the challenges of each.
The most important thing for me is that I want to choose a branch that will allow me to use my brain - I don't want to be a glorified machine operator... if you know what I mean. :)
Which branch allows the most freedom to use your own initiative, make your own decisions and/or work on your own?
Thanks!!

Answer 1

I myself have spent several years trying to figure out which specialty I would like to enter (for numerous reasons, I have chosen Ultrasound; though Nuclear Medicine was my first choice, there is no school for nuclear in my area). I have done a lot of research on my own, and have shadowed all of these fields except Radiation Therapy. This is what I found:

Radiography is, by definition, a field that does not typically allow you to diagnose or make decisions about the patient's treatment. For example, even if you see something obvious (like a broken bone, say) on an x-ray that you took, you cannot tell the patient that you see anything wrong; you can only tell the patient that the doctor will interpret the image and answer any questions. However, you will be required to describe to the doctor what you see in a report, and some doctors will want to hear your opinion and will take it into consideration when making their diagnosis. Here's a breakdown:

Diagnostic Radiography: This field includes x-ray and CT scan (also known as CAT scan). It uses x-rays to create still images. You will position patients, take the pictures, and, sometimes, develop them (many x-ray images go straight to a computer these days); you will also be taught how to administer contrast agents, which are usually either swallowed or injected. CT scan is a form of x-ray that takes cross-sectional pictures. Most of the skills for CT scan are the same as for x-ray. Both x-ray and CT scan see a lot of trauma because they are fast and show injuries pretty well. It depends on the school, but if you decide on Diagnostic, you may learn MRI, as well. This specialty uses magnetic pulses to create images, and is particularly good for soft tissues, such as the brain, nerves, and abdominal organs. If you specialize in MRI, most of your time will be spent in a small computer room next to the actual MRI room. Your job will be to position the patient, and then to control the functions of the MRI machine from the computer room.

Therapeutic Radiography (Radiation Therapy): You will administer radiation to cancer patients. This field will probably give you the most independence, since you will very likely be involved in deciding what kind and how much radiation the patient needs. You will help develop a treatment plan, will explain the treatment to the patient, and will then administer the radiation. You still cannot diagnose, but you can help make some decisions about treatment.

Nuclear Medicine (includes PET scan): This field uses the internal administration of radioactive substances to create images. After you give the patient the radioactive substance (the patient will eat it, inhale it, or you will inject it), you will position the patient on one of several different types of imaging machine, most of which consist of a camera that moves around the patient as they lie on a table. You will sit right next to the patient and monitor the patient and the computer throughout the procedure. This one is kind of neat because it is the most diverse. You can look at virtually any part of the body, from the bones to the abdominal organs to the brain. It is used to look at the function, as well as the structure, of organs (it can take moving pictures, and is often used to examine the movement of the heart), and is used to look for cancerous tumors throughout the body.

Ultrasound: Uses sound waves to create real-time images of the internal structures. As the ultrasonographer moves a probe called a transducer over the body part that is being examined, they see a movie image of the body part on a computer screen. Depending on the physician's request, you may record the whole movie, or just select and take still pictures. Although babies are frequently what you will image, this specialty is used for many organs and tissues, as well. However, because of the nature of sound waves, it is no good for very hard tissues, like bones, anything encased in hard tissues, like the brain (although, because of the structure of their skulls, infant brains can be examined), or air-filled organs, like the lungs or intestine. Ultrasound is attractive if you want a lot of direct patient contact. It is also the safest specialty (along with MRI), since no radiation is used.

You may want an idea of pay, as well. If you don't care, you can ignore this part. Diagnostic pays the least, though you will be paid more if you choose to specialize in MRI. Ultrasound and Nuclear are the highest paying; usually they pay about the same, though they may switch back and forth a little from year to year.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Answer 2

Choosing the diagnostic branch will give you more opportunities. Once you decide on Therapy, NM, or Ultrasound that is what you will be doing for your career day in and out. There isn't much variety and not a lot of opportunity for advancement. However, diagnostic will allow for portables, fluoroscopic exams, operating room. You will also be able to cross train into Cat Scan, MRI, or special procedures (sort of like outpatient operating room in which you, the tech, will be very involved in the procedure). Then if you feel the need for something more, there is a program ,which is either a Masters or Bachelors depending on the university, that is called Radiologist Assistant. It is a fairly new branch in radiology but involves actually doing the procedures alone with the help of a tech. The easiest way to define it is sort of like a Physicians Assistant but in radiology. The RA is responsible for history and physicals, pre and post procedure patient care, fluoroscopic exams, insertion of PICC lines, lumbar punctures, myelograms, biopsies, drainages and many other procedures. You then report your findings to the radiologist. It is a very neat opportunity and it is more helpful to get into the program with the background of diagnostic and a crosstraining field.

Answer 3

I agree with the other answers, and feel they are very insightful and accurate. Diagnostic has a higher burnout due to the "button-pusher" idea you referred to, and minimal patient interaction. If you want hands on, alot of autonmy, and challenges, you can't go wrong with Therapy, Nucs, or Ultrasound. I am in Nucs, and enjoy the mental challenges, and long times spent with patients, as well as patient relationships that develop after repeat visits. You really can't make a bad choice here, imaging will always be around, and always in demand as our nation's overall health unfortunately continues to deteriorate. The choice is how involved you want to be with patients, and your willingness to be an occupational radiation worker; with the exception of ultrasound which does not use ionizing radiation. Good luck!

Answer 4

It really depends on what you like but definitely do additional training. Hardest to easiest: MRI, u/s, mammo, ct, and then plain xray. You will likey get paid pretty well with all of the above and MRI or u/s the highest. Mammo and MRI have no or less on call responsiblities. Ultimately, pick what interests you most. The other stuff will fall in place good luck

Answer 5

These videos will give you some insight: https://www.asrt.org/content/RecruitmentRetention/RecruitmentTools/career_videos.aspx

Look around the site for more info.