Radiology how long

In order to become a radiologist, you'll need to meet a variety of qualifications. Here are the steps you should take:.

The first step toward becoming a radiologist involves the completion of an undergraduate program. After earning your high school diploma or GED, you'll need to obtain a bachelor's degree.

This is a requirement for attending medical school. Upon obtaining your bachelor's degree, you'll need to attend medical school and earn a master's or doctorate degree. Your coursework during this time will include everything from physiology and pathophysiology to anatomy and pharmacology.

Once you graduate from medical school, you'll need to apply for a license and job. Your first year as a radiologist is considered your residency. During this time, you'll care for patients through general medicine or surgery practices. This step will give you hands-on experience as a radiologist as you analyze imaging results and work with other physicians day-to-day.

From here, you can apply for a fellowship program in a radiology subspecialty that interests you. During your fellowship, you'll advance your imaging knowledge through training centered on your particular subspecialty. You'll need a state license to practice as a radiologist. In addition, it's possible that you might be asked to get board certified which involves testing your knowledge of various topics such as physics, medicine and anatomy. Once you have your state license, it's important to maintain it.

Radiologists need to have a variety of skills to perform well, including:. Find jobs. Being highly skilled in a niche of medical imaging is one way to increase employability. A few possible specialties include:. Even though finishing a training program to become a radiologic technologist can take as little as six months, moving up into a position with a higher salary or more responsibilities will be difficult without spending more time, which probably means more money as well, on education and training.

Though there is rapid employment growth for radiology technologists, the opportunities for career advancement are limited for those with only the minimum required training.

Techs with more advanced degrees or diversified training in other medical fields will find it easier to make both vertical and horizontal career moves.

One piece of great news for radiology techs is that employment is growing rapidly in the field and in many similar occupations.

The chart below shows estimates of job growth in several related fields during the decade preceding , according to The Bureau of Labor Statistics. Another way to score some experience in the medical imaging field, and possibly increase your employability, is to do an internship after getting trained.

This might add six months or a year to your education timeframe, but the payoff will be a new line on your resume and an increased level of experience, not to mention the opportunity to network with other medical professionals in the facility where you do your internship.

The licensure process is integrated into many training programs, and so getting a license after finishing training should only be a matter of taking a state-approved test. Depending on the scheduling of the tests, you may have to wait a few weeks or months, or you may be able to take it right away.

The next stage of training is the radiology specialty training programme, which takes five years to complete stages S1 — S5. There is a further year of training ST6 if you want to specialise in interventional radiology. The first three years of speciality training are in general radiology, followed by two years of special interest training or three if you're following the interventional radiology path. You can then apply for consultant posts. For full details on radiology training, see RCR Careers and recruitment.

For details on the qualifications and training required to be a doctor, see hospital doctor. Before applying to do a medical degree you're expected to undertake work experience, either paid or voluntary, in areas relevant to medicine. This could be through work experience at your local hospital, GP surgery or nursing home, or through work shadowing a doctor. This experience shows your commitment to becoming a radiologist and provides insight into the physical and emotional demands of working in medicine.

Consider becoming a student member of the British Society of Interventional Radiology , as well as joining your university's radiology student society, to keep informed about developments in the field. You could also take a student-selected module, project and elective in radiology as part of your undergraduate medical degree.

During your two-year Foundation Training as a junior doctor, you'll need to choose a radiology placement to gain an insight into the work. Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available. The NHS is the largest employer of clinical radiologists.

There are also opportunities to work in the private sector, as well as setting up a private practice. Continuing professional development CPD is essential if you want to remain on the GMC register, and as a radiologist you'll be expected to continue learning throughout your career.

CPD activities include attending courses, conferences, meetings and workshops, as well as undertaking research and peer-reviewing journal papers. There are excellent opportunities for research up to PhD level. Research areas range from the effectiveness and application of resources and techniques to supporting the evaluation of drug trials.

There is also a range of postgraduate teaching qualifications available if you want to integrate more formal teaching into your work. See, for example, the Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education PGCME for Radiology , aimed at trainee and consultant radiologists with an interest in developing their careers in medical education. They are in the next four-year phase of their training. The next full year of education is called an internship.

This part of their education is paid. The new doctor will work in either surgery or general medicine. They will work with patients in emergency rooms as well as in hospitals and clinics in order to get a well-rounded, general training as a new physician. After the first year of their residency, the interns are able to begin to work in radiology. Besides receiving more training, the interns will interpret medical imaging tests, speak with patients, provide diagnoses, and create treatment plans.

The resident will move between classroom time and clinical practice time throughout each day. Residents will often need to be available nights and weekends as well. Then, the residents must take more examinations to demonstrate their thorough understanding of radiology.

Most radiologists do not end their training after their four-year residency program. They continue into a fellowship program that allows them to receive training in a sub-field of radiology. These fellowship programs work quite a bit like residencies, with lectures and training to attend, as well as hands-on work using the information they are learning with patients. Fellowship programs tend to last for a year or two. Some do two programs. At this point, the radiologist will be able to receive full state licensure to practice in their field.

Most radiologists will also opt to take radiology board certification exams because most employers will require their radiologists to be board certified. Board-certified radiologists need their M. They need to have completed their residency, and will need to pass the board's exams, which are both written and oral. Once the radiologist has their initial radiology careers certification and has completed a fellowship, they can pass an additional exam in order to receive certification in specialties within the radiological field.

There are two radiological certification boards in the U. Radiologists interpret the results of medical imaging tests. They have to create plans for treatment of the patient based upon the results of the tests.

They are responsible for writing reports about test results and treatment plans and explaining to patients their proposed treatment plan and alternatives in order to obtain approval from the patient.

Radiologists usually are in a supervisory capacity over radiological technicians and other medical assistants who perform the imaging tests. As in any profession, radiologists are responsible for receiving continuing education in their field. They can work in a clinic or a hospital.

Radiologists who work in hospitals tend to work any shift, while those in clinics usually work a day shift. Today, many radiologists are able to transmit their imaging results easily to other caregivers, even around the world, so there is a trend toward radiologists having less patient contact than other types of doctors.

Some you may already have, so they just need further development. You will learn other skills in your electrical engineering classes. Not all radiologists in the U.

According to the American Board of Radiology, one path to certification is open to radiologists from other countries.