The profession of radiologist is gaining popularity in the US at a brisk rate as it reported the job as a Radiologist in various states of US is quite secure and they even earn good incomes and enjoy other benefits as well. So if you too are considering a career in the medical field as a radiologist you need to have a good understanding of general medicine and surgery. Most importantly you need to have a license from any allied health field and if you don’t have a license from any of the allied field you will have to take a formal course of study at a Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) school. Radiologists need to acquire an associate’s or bachelor’s degrees in two or four year program from these schools. Here’s all you need to know about the education needed to become a radiologist.
Radiologist Education
There are around 35 four year programs and 397 two year programs approved by the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) in the US. The four year program is mainly for the people who are more interested in getting into the medical field and making a career in it. Whereas the two year program offers basic training for specific job needs required in local hospitals and clinics. Getting into the right school for you is very important as there are many options and so you should first decide on what sort of a career you want in the future and then go ahead with school and programs accordingly.
Radiologist Education Requirements
The basic radiologist education requirements for an aspiring radiologist are as follows: you must earn an undergraduate radiologist degree, complete your medical school and then participate in residency and fellowship training. There is no such high education for radiologist’s requirements to enter the medical school but it would be better if you have an undergraduate degree emphasizing on science as that will be beneficiary in your future studies. As mentioned earlier there are two programs, a four year program which is a more in depth study and better training which prepares you for a career in medical field and the second one being a two year program which offers basic training. You can choose any one of them to become a certified radiologist. But you will have to obtain a license from your state or jurisdiction before practicing on your own. In order to gain your license you will have to pass the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination and once you do that you will be eligible to work with any of the medical services that the state offers.
Once you have been certified as a radiologist you can earn a good income annually either by assisting any senior doctor or by working in any of the medical centers. A radiologist’s salary depends on various issues such as his position, educational qualifications, place and experience. An entry level radiologist who has just started in this field can expect a radiologist salary of up to $90,000 a year. But one thing is for sure, your salary will increase if you have a good radiologist education and as you gain in experience in this field you can easily earn up to $350,000 annually or even more.
