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Radiologists

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Diagnose and treat diseases and injuries using medical imaging techniques, such as x rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine, and ultrasounds. May perform minimally invasive medical procedures and tests.

Related: Cardiologists Emergency Medicine Physicians Orthopedic Surgeons Pediatric Surgeons Physicians, Pathologists

Industries: Health & Counseling

Summary
Details

Perform or interpret the outcomes of diagnostic imaging procedures including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), nuclear cardiology treadmill studies, mammography, or ultrasound.
Confer with medical professionals regarding image-based diagnoses.
Communicate examination results or diagnostic information to referring physicians, patients, or families.
Review or transmit images and information using picture archiving or communications systems.
Recognize or treat complications during and after procedures, including blood pressure problems, pain, oversedation, or bleeding.
Obtain patients' histories from electronic records, patient interviews, dictated reports, or by communicating with referring clinicians.
Review or transmit images and information using picture archiving or communications systems.
Coordinate radiological services with other medical activities.
Document the performance, interpretation, or outcomes of all procedures performed.
Participate in quality improvement activities including discussions of areas where risk of error is high.
Communicate examination results or diagnostic information to referring physicians, patients, or families.
Provide counseling to radiologic patients to explain the processes, risks, benefits, or alternative treatments.
Participate in continuing education activities to maintain and develop expertise.
Develop treatment plans for radiology patients.
Perform or interpret the outcomes of diagnostic imaging procedures including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), nuclear cardiology treadmill studies, mammography, or ultrasound.
Instruct radiologic staff in desired techniques, positions, or projections.
Establish or enforce standards for protection of patients or personnel.
Obtain patients' histories from electronic records, patient interviews, dictated reports, or by communicating with referring clinicians.
Establish or enforce standards for protection of patients or personnel.
Develop or monitor procedures to ensure adequate quality control of images.
Perform interventional procedures such as image-guided biopsy, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, transhepatic biliary drainage, or nephrostomy catheter placement.
Prepare comprehensive interpretive reports of findings.

Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

Education

Doctoral or professional degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Internship/residency

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

208,000+/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

100+/hr

Currently Employed

35,600

Yearly Projected Openings

1000

Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Integrity
Analytical Thinking
Concern for Others
Dependability
Stress Tolerance

Desktop computers
Electrocardiography EKG units
Electronic blood pressure units
Gamma bone densitometers
Goggles
Intravenous tubing with catheter administration kits
Laboratory beakers
Laboratory tongs
Liquid scintillation counters
Medical acoustic stethoscopes
Medical computed tomography CT or CAT stationary units
Medical computed tomography CT or CAT ultrafast system components
Medical exam or non surgical procedure gloves
Medical gamma cameras for general use
Medical magnetic resonance imaging MRI scanners
Medical magnetic resonance imaging MRI stationary units
Medical picture archiving computer systems PACS
Medical positron emission tomography PET units
Medical radiation dosimeters
Medical radiation films or badges
Medical radiological shielding aprons or masks or drapes
Medical radiological shielding gloves
Medical radiological shielding portable containers for radioactive materials
Medical radiology and fluoroscopy RF units
Medical single photon emission computed tomography SPECT units
Medical syringes with needle
Medical ultrasound bone densitometers
Medical ultrasound or doppler or pulse echocardiograph or echocardiograph units for general diagnostic use
Medical x ray film archiving system software
Medical x ray units for general diagnostic use
Mercury blood pressure units
Microcentrifuges
Mobile medical services automated external defibrillators AED or hard paddles
Multipurpose or general test tubes
Notebook computers
Pasteur or transfer pipettes
Pedal exercisers for rehabilitation or therapy
Personal computers
Phantom dosimeters
Radiation detectors
Surgical isolation or surgical masks
Tablet computers
Treadmills
X ray diffraction equipment