Radiography into Radiology (1 Viewer)

[SugaryMilk]

Hi, I'm currently in year 12 and I am pursuing the career of a radiologist. I'm not doing the UMAT this year and thus, will not be getting into medicine as an undergraduate. I want to get into Radiography and was wondering if it was possible to transfer into Radiology and how would doing Radiography benefit me if I am interested in post graduate Radiology?
Thanks

 

[khorne]

what

you do realise you need to do a medicine degree, then after the degree, work as a doctor, then while working as a doctor, try and enter the extremely competitive training program, then after 5 years specialise.

 

[avro]

Take UMAT. Radiology is a MBBS with a specialisation. Radiographer and Radiologist and two different things.

 

[khorne]

radiography is takin' pics

radiology is diagnosing from pics (mostly)

 

[SugaryMilk]

If i was to do medicine post grad how many years are we looking at

 

[khorne]

3+4+1+x+5, where x is a number between 0-3 (depending on how long it takes you to get accepted into the program)

so 13 years at the least?

you're paid for everything after you start working, but you won't have the title "radiologist" until at least 13

 

[x3Reii]

Hi. Like others said, you need to get into medicine to become a radiologist. A lot of people in my course want to become radiologists too but they don't realise that radiography doesn't offer direct entry into medicine/radiology.

About radiography, the cutoff is getting higher. The cutoff jumped to 95 this year from 92.8 in 2011 so it's getting pretty competitive. You could always do radiography undergrad and get into med post grad. But then it would take even longer for you to become a radiologist. If you have any other questions on radiography, I'm happy to try and answer

 

[ak891]

Hey can you tell me more about B of Applied science (MRS) Diagnostic Radiography at USYD.
- average salary range?
- ATAR requirements
- any special tests like UMAT?

 

[Ryan_T90]

Hey can you tell me more about B of Applied science (MRS) Diagnostic Radiography at USYD.
- average salary range?
- ATAR requirements
- any special tests like UMAT?

Starting salary generally around $58,000, goes up with experience. In the public health system generally it is $60,000-$85,000, again, that could be higher with experience.
ATAR you're looking at around 92.00 - 95.00.
No special tests.

 

[nutting]

Radiography is a 3-4 year degree. Radiology requires a Medicine degree ( 6 years ) + Work Experience + post grad studies...
Detail explanation about differences between Radiology and Radiography degree courses here

 

[x3Reii]

Hey can you tell me more about B of Applied science (MRS) Diagnostic Radiography at USYD.
- average salary range?
- ATAR requirements
- any special tests like UMAT?

Generally about 50k post-NPDP (intern year). However, the NPDP is getting much harder to find.
Well this years cut-off was 95.50 which is pretty high. I only just managed to scrape in. I'm assuming it'll stay the same or rise in 2013.
No special tests. However, I do recommend you do as much sciences as possible during HSC because in first semester, you'd be doing a unit based on physics and another unit that combines chemistry and biology.

Oh and another thing to SugaryMilk, if you didn't take UMAT then I think radiography would be a good course to propel you into medicine/radiology as you'll be doing anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and all that fun stuff. Also consider doing B 0f Medical Science.

 

[windupbird1]

If you're serious about medicine/radiology, don't go near radiography. Its a terrible degree with barely any science involved except for the basic anatomy/physics and high school level chemistry/biology that you touch on in your first year. The rest of the degree mainly revolves around memorising body positions and machine settings (exposure factors) for different types of xrays. Theres a reason why this degree used to be a TAFE course. Due to the lack of real science, this degree will not prepare you for gamsat and medicine. Youre better off doing a b.medsci or b.sci.

Also, dont be fooled by the atar cut off for this degree, the course itself is EXTREMELY easy. Unfortunately though, by the end of it youll be qualified to be nothing more than a radiographer/xray technician. Although your starting salary is quite attractive, itll cap pretty low and this career also has almost zero job progression (radiographer to chief rad, thats it). And that will take years... Theres also the radiation risk, which although minimal still exists, especially if you want to work in hospitals where they require you to operate portable x-rays (where you have to stand in the room with the patient) and fluroscopy (real time imaging = constant stream of radiation). The job itself is also very repetitive and physically demanding as youre on your feet all day pressing buttons. I imagine itd especially suck years down the track when you hear about your friends progressing in their careers while youre still a factory drone in the basement of a hospital somewhere.

However, do this degree if:
- youre not that ambitious and want a 'sorta sciencey' job that pays ok
- youre willing to go back to uni after a few years of work and study ultrasound (not many opportunities in MRI). Then you can take ultrasounds for the rest of your life instead which I guess pays slightly better...
- you want a really easy degree so that can get a super high WAM and apply for postgrad med afterwards. This only works though if youre really disciplined and are willing to learn the science you need on your own.

 

[Nerdygirl]

Why the hate on Radiography windupbird1?

For all those who are interested in Radiography you would be surprised by the ammount of physics in the degree, at Newcastle we have to learn the physics behind not just X-ray but nuclear medicine and Radiation thearapy there is also a continued study in physics through all years of the degree. Also the anatomy courses we study are the same as those taken by physiotherapy, many of the other allied health courses and medical students who choose them so the degree is still high on science.

 

[windupbird1]

Because I honestly believe it shouldn't be a university degree. Also I did it for a year before transferring, and although I enjoyed what I was learning (in first year at least), I came to realise the limited job prospects and various other negative aspects I mentioned. I think more people considering the course should think about the future implications of the actual job on areas such as lifestyle, health, self esteem etc. as opposed to how interesting the degree sounds.

The physics you learn in radiography is very specific and revolves mainly around the workings of different imaging machines. To be prepared in physics for medicine/GAMSAT you need to have learnt a whole range of topics like motion, waves, electricity, etc. Only a very small portion of the physics learnt in rad would be useful to someone wanting to pursue med and same goes to radiographers in their actual jobs. Also, I should add that the GAMSAT is split 40% chemistry 40% biology and 20% physics. I dont know about newcastle, but at usyd they only have biology and chemistry in the first year and its only at a very basic level.