Radiology is an increasingly popular position in the medical field. The radiologist is responsible for handling various types of imaging and analyzing equipment in the hospital. There are several different radiology training programs you can go through, each for a slightly different type of career.
Assistant Program
Several schools in the United States now offer what's referred to as the Radiologist Assistant program. These programs consist of a full four-year academic program followed by a supervised clinical internship that results both a bachelor's degree and certification by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. These are requisites for pursuing a profession as a radiologist assistant. Once the degree and certification is earned, the RA performs (under supervision of a radiologist) examinations, evaluations and occasionally procedures. Certain procedures and tasks are off-limits to an RA, so you should know before committing to a four-year program for an RA degree whether it involves the aspects you wish to pursue in your career.
Technologist Program
If you are leaning more heavily toward the technology aspects of radiology and would rather spend more time operating the equipment itself, you may consider going through a Radiologist Technologist program. This program is slightly less stringent than the assistant program and is also offered at a wider range of schools. This is because the technologist program doesn't require a full four years. While many schools will issue a full four-year academic regimen for the program, many more community schools or technical institutes will offer two-year academic programs that also combine some formal training at on-site locations. This commonly leads to an associate's degree and official certification, allowing you to practice as a radiologist technologist. Additional training programs are then available for those already in the professional field that will allow you to specialize in certain equipment, opening up job possibilities at newer radiology centers dealing with specialty equipment.
Radiologist Doctorate Program
A full-fledged radiologist is the highest position in the radiological field. Assistants and technologists all operate under the radiologist, who themselves are responsible for the bulk of procedures, diagnosing and medical analyses. For this reason, a radiologist program must be completed at an accredited medical school. The is a doctorate program, resulting in you earning an MD degree upon completion. These programs are both time-consuming and academically intensive. After undergraduate school you must pass the entrance to medical school and then complete the four-year radiology graduate program. This is commonly referred to as "medical school" no matter what field, as all MD programs require roughly the same commitment and additional course load. Along with the graduate school an internship, residency and licensing examinations will all be completed as well. This will result in the awarding of the MD degree and all necessary certification to practice as a radiologist.
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