About This Career

Diagnoses and treats diseases and injuries using medical imaging techniques, such as x rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine, and ultrasounds. May perform minimally invasive medical procedures and tests.

This career is part of the Health Science cluster Therapeutic Services pathway.

A person in this career:

• Prepares comprehensive interpretive reports of findings.
• Prepares comprehensive interpretive reports of findings.
• Documents the performance, interpretation, or outcomes of all procedures performed.
• Communicates examination results or diagnostic information to referring physicians, patients, or families.
• Reviews or transmits images and information using picture archiving or communications systems.
• Obtains patients' histories from electronic records, patient interviews, dictated reports, or by communicating with referring clinicians.
• Confers with medical professionals regarding image-based diagnoses.
• Recognizes or treats complications during and after procedures, including blood pressure problems, pain, oversedation, or bleeding.
• Develops or monitors procedures to ensure adequate quality control of images.
• Provides counseling to radiologic patients to explain the processes, risks, benefits, or alternative treatments.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would sit most of the time. There's some walking and standing. You may have to lift and carry things like books, papers or tools weighing 10 lbs. or less.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposed to disease and infections more than once a month through work such as patient care, laboratory work, and sanitation control
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
• Exposed to radiation more than once a month
• Work in this occupation involves making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves use of special protective items such as a breathing apparatus, safety harness, full protection suit, or radiation protection

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

• Regular working hours and limited travel