Radiologist Assistant Career Path Expands Rad Tech Role

By Cindy Mehallow, Monster Contributing Writer

For experienced radiologic technologists (RTs) who crave upward mobility and an advanced clinical role, there's a new career path to explore: Radiologist assistant (RA). Recently created by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT), the American College of Radiology and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT), this new role was designed to help address the shortage of radiologists and to provide a way for RTs to advance their careers. As physician extenders, RAs will have more autonomy and more say in decision making, which means more opportunities, more responsibilities and greater financial rewards.

Pioneering Students, Schools

Like radiographers, RAs will assess, educate and manage patients. But RAs will also perform certain radiological procedures, such as fluoroscopy, and they'll be able to evaluate image quality and report their initial image observations to the supervising radiologist.

Those higher-level duties appeal to computed tomographer Lucina Mallavarapu, who enrolled in the RA program at California's Loma Linda University, the first school in the country to launch such a program. "I'm a hands-on person," she says. "I love doing procedures and the initial observation of films." Mallavarapu graduated from Loma Linda in summer 2005 with nine others in the first class of RAs.

While Loma Linda was first to develop an RA program and admitted its first class in fall 2003, other schools have rapidly followed suit. Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey, and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia, all admitted students in 2004. Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have RA programs as well.

Program Variety

While all RA training will prepare students for the same certification, the programs differ. "Each program sponsor is going to construct or organize their program according to what kind of [student] population they're trying to attract," says Kevin Powers, the ASRT's director of education.

For example, VCU offers a three-year traditional education program on its Richmond campus. The first two years feature clinical and didactic coursework followed by a paid, one-year RA fellowship at VCU Health Systems. ARRT-certified radiographers who enter with an associate's degree will graduate with a bachelor's degree and certificate; those entering with a bachelor's degree will earn a certificate.

Program lengths also vary. Loma Linda offers two 21-month programs, a post-baccalaureate certificate program and a program leading to a bachelor's degree. Except for a brief on-campus stint each quarter, the Loma Linda program is almost entirely online.

But tuition doesn't come cheap. According to data from the school, for the 2007-08 year, Loma Linda charged approximately $28,500 for the certificate program and $31,400 for the bachelor's program. Seven Loma Linda students received tuition reimbursement from their employers. Students can also look into military benefits, grants, student loans and scholarships from the ASRT Education and Research Foundation.

RA graduates can earn certification by passing an ARRT-administered exam that's offered twice a year. Most states will license RAs under the radiologic technologist designation.

Competitive Entry Requirements

Entrance requirements vary but are rigorous. After finding many applicants lacked the necessary humanities courses, Laura Alipoon, EdD, RT(R), Loma Linda's RA program director, now is suggesting that prospective students complete their general education requirements before applying to the RA program. "We're not trying to make it hard," she says. "We're trying to make it what it needs to be."

To earn a slot in an RA program, Powers suggests contacting the program you're interested in to learn its selection criteria and then developing a plan to become a strong candidate. Counselors can help you select the courses you may need, such as advanced research, pathophysiology or pharmacology, to improve your candidacy.

"Candidates need to get ready to compete, especially those who have been out of school for a while," Powers says.

But their efforts could ultimately pay off. RAs are expected to earn between $80,000 and $100,000, well above the national mean RT salary of about $59,000, according to the ASRT's 2007 Wage and Salary Survey. Even before she graduated, Mallavarapu was entertaining three job offers, including one paying more than $100,000.