Byline: Special to Job Market '87
The allied health profession of radiologic technology offers many opportunities to high school graduates interested in pursuing a career in the health field. Some factors which make radiologic technology a desirable choice include job security, rising salaries due to supply and demand, and excellent growth opportunities in administration, education and health care marketing.
Albany Memorial Hospital is the only hospital in the Capital District to offer a certification program for radiologic technology in its Medical Imaging Department.
Memorial's two-year full-time program qualifies graduates to take the certification exam of the nationally recognized American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. Passing this exam also licenses the student with the state Department of Health. This exam can be taken as early as two years after graduating from high school.
Currently averaging 24 years of age, students spend half their time in the classroom and the rest in hands-on clinical experience, intensively learning the use of X-ray equipment in addition to magnetic resonance imaging, computer tomography, ultrasound and nuclear medicine.
Financial assistance to meet the two-year program's tuition of $1,000 is available through various state and national aid programs. Also, while working as licensed radiologic technologists, graduates can attend college part-time to earn a degree, and many hospitals assist or subsidize education for their employees.
