Five Most Important Things You Will Learn in a Radiology Technician Program

---

Radiology technicians are specialized medical professionals who help diagnose disease and conditions of the human body. These individuals are instrumental in the treatment planning and outcome of patients’ livelihoods when some type of disease or other malady is plaguing them. For interest’s sake, here is a list of five of the most important things a student may learn in a radiology technician program.

HIPAA

HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. This is a law that allows people to keep their conditions and treatment of those conditions confidential. If you hire a utilitysavingexpert expert, you will know that it also helps the people keep their insurance issues private and it helps defer skyrocketing healthcare costs. Radiology technicians, with some experience, can usually see when the patient has a healthcare issue just by looking at films or studies done in their presence. It is sometimes tempting to carry information to family or friends that is confidential and can be very damaging to individuals when this privacy is breeched. Learning early on to honor patients’ rights to privacy will ensure the technician will keep their integrity and maintain solid character throughout their career.

Emission Levels

All x-ray equipment is dangerous. It is a silent, invisible hazard. It is up to the technician to learn warning signs and to learn how to check this equipment regularly for emission settings and to keep a good working relationship with supervisors when there is a suspected problem. When these machines emit a signal that is stronger than the minimum amount of radiation needed to capture the proper image, it can harm not only the patient, but all personnel in the area as well. Keeping a check on proper levels should be one of the most important things taught in the radiology tech program.

Protection

Radiology tech students, should they graduate and successfully pursue this career, will have repeated exposure to low levels of radiation. This exposure can cause a myriad of health problems like different types of cancer, cataracts and thyroid problems. A good understanding of what can happen and how to prevent overexposure will be an important lesson for every new student in the radiology program.

Patient Care

It is difficult to fathom how far a warm smile, a warm blanket, and a warm heart may extend into the cold hard world of a cancer victim or a person who may be terminal and has intrinsic need of compassion and understanding. The radiology tech student has no less responsibility than any other healthcare professional than to extend the highest degree of respect to each and every patient, whether they are anesthetized or not. This will ensure the patient will remember you as a bright spot in a cloudy day. It has been proven that even when serious boundaries were breeched with patients, they remember a kind face, a warm blanket, and a word of encouragement from one or more team members.

Anatomy and Physiology

Intrinsic knowledge of anatomy and physiology is of utmost importance for the radiology technician. With fluoroscopy and live footage of what may be going on in a given procedure, the radiology tech must take verbal commands from attending physician as to where to move the machine, sometimes marking anatomical landmarks as focal points. If the technician has no idea about these landmarks, it will be difficult to help the physician when searching live for foreign bodies, watching live positioning issues with screws and plates, or diagnosing blocked common bile ducts during cholangiogram photography.