Nature of the work

The allied health field includes many branches such as, nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, laboratory technologists and radiologic technologists and others. The branch of the allied health field known as Radiologic Technology also has its own branches or modalities. The term radiologic technologist is an all encompassing term relating to all the different modalities within this allied health profession. Specifically, there are other titles used to describe the nature of the work, such as radiographer, sonographer, therapist etc. The term "technician" is reserved for those who fix equipment and is not a part of the allied health profession known as "Radiologic Technology".

Diagnostic radiologic technologists employ a range of sophisticated equipment to produce high quality images, with the least amount of radiation to the patient, so that doctors and other health care professionals may better diagnose and treat an injury or disease. Radiologic Technologists use their expertise to assess the patient, develop optimal radiographic techniques and evaluate resulting radiographic images to determine if additional images are warranted. They do this while taking into account the patient's physical, emotional and mental ability and the nature of injury or disease suspected or present.

The practice of Radiologic Technology includes the following modalities (or specialties):

Diagnostic Radiography – to look through tissue to examine bones, cavities and foreign objects; includes cardiovascular imaging and interventional radiography.
Sonography – uses high frequency ultrasound and is increasingly used due to its economy, safety, and versatility in obstetrics, including metal monitoring throughout nancy, necology, abdominal, pediatrics, cardiac, vascular and musculo-skeletal; Note: in most settings this is conducted by a specially trained Sonographer.
Fluoroscopy – live motion X-ray (constant radiation) usually used to image the digestive system; monitor the administration of a contrast agent to highlight vessels and organs or to help position devices within the body (such as pacemakers, guidewires, stents etc.)
CT (computed tomography) – which provides cross-sectional views (slices) of the body; can also reconstruct additional images from those taken to provide more information in either 2 or 3D.
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) – builds a 2-D or 3-D map of different tissue types within the body;
Nuclear medicine – this uses radioactive tracers which can be administered to examine how the body and organs function, for example the kidneys or heart. Certain radioisotopes can also be administered to treat certain cancers such as thyroid cancer.
Radiotherapy (Radiation Therapy)- uses radiation to shrink, and sometimes eradicate, cancerous cells/growths in and on the body.
Mammography - uses x-ray to image the breast tissues.
The American Society of Radiologic Technology is the professional organization in the United States, which governs the scope of practice for radiologic technologists.