Whenever you go to the doctor or the dentist and are getting an x-ray taken, there is a person who is operating that huge piece of machinery. That same person also helps you get into the right position (which is often at an uncomfortable angle), and covers you in a protective blanket to minimize the amount of rays that your body absorbs. You only really see this person for about 5 minutes total, but her job is an important one that helps physicians determine any ailments that you may have, and she is called a radiologic technologist.

Radiologic technologists often work in hospital settings, but they can also work in dentist offices, medical labs, or clinics. They work directly under radiologists, and they are in charge of setting everything up to take pictures of the inside of their patient’s bodies. They use a variety of high-tech machines to accomplish this, and must know the difference between the different types of machines, such as a CT or an MRI.  They also are in charge of developing the images from the machines and giving them to the radiologist for proper examination.

They do not diagnose or analyze the x-rays; this job task is for the radiologist. They instead assist the patient to put them at the right position to take the best image and they thoroughly explain the procedure. They also must adjust the machine according to the patient, and they cover the patient in protective gear to protect them from the dangerous rays. They must also wear this protective gear every time they operate the machine.

These technologists also create the liquid solutions that patients must drink if the radiologist needs to take a look at the inside of a patient’s body. The liquid solution is illuminated in the picture and allows the radiologist to find anything abnormal within the body that may otherwise not show up on a normal x-ray.

Radiologic technologists have a very important job description; they capture images of a patient’s internal body so that physicians can deduct a diagnosis. Through the diagnosis, these physicians can come up with a treatment plan and allow the patient to be cured of their ailment. The technologists make the patient feel comfortable, safe, and well-aware of the upcoming procedure, which is important because patient’s often feel panicked when they are in a hospital setting.

Tags: radiologic technologist, radiologic technologist job description, radiologic technology

This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2012 at 7:08 pm and is filed under Radiologic Technologist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.