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Best Uni For Diagnostic Radiography?

Hey all,

I'm wondering if you guys could help me? My partner is looking to apply for September 2012 entry to a Diagnostic Radiography degree, at the moment he's doing some work experience at a Radiology Department at our local hospital and he's absolutely loving it. Thing is, our nearest uni that does the course is London South Bank but he's been told by a couple of people at the hospital that LSBU is crap and he shouldn't go there. We went to an open day there and he quite liked it, so hearing this was a shame. Of course, nobody wants to go to a uni that people already in the profession won't take seriously, so what are the best unis for the course. It's looking like we'd have to live apart for a while.

We have looked at a few, and these are our options as preferably he'd like to stay in the south:

Canterbury Christ Church University
University of Portsmouth
City University
St Georges, University of London
University of West England

I'd appreciate any advice we can get. I'm willing to support him through this but I think it'd benefit him to go to a uni that will get him really good at what he's doing.

Reply 1

FXX

All the courses are validated by the HPC so they're all taken seriously by employers, so you don't need to worry about that.

I go to CCCU which deals with all of the large hospitals in the south east, so while it's not the most academically advanced institution, it does mean I'm training in the hospitals I'll be looking for jobs in in 8 months time. If you plan to stay in Kent you may want to consider which is best in terms of offering job opportunities rather than which has the highest entry requirements. You spend half the course on placement, so you might as well base it on the hospitals rather than the uni.

We were told a few months ago that CCCU has a fairly good reputation as new graduates are often found to be the most well-rounded (ie can do a bit of everything at the end), compared to some unis where they might miss major areas like theatre work, but I don't know how true that is.

Problem is from Sept 2012 my uni is cutting down on the number of places it offers so it'll be much more competitive, and with more applicants to the course in general, getting a place where you want might be tough.

Reply 2

mackers_ire

Well speaking from personal experience of working in radiology in a London hospital, City is highly rated for radiography, and of course has the Saad Centre which includes a CT scanner for simulated practice, however they are VERY tough on anatomy (although this should be considered a positive in making your partner a good radiographer). Yet to be honest, as FXX said above no matter which uni you go to you'll still be a HPC-registered radiographer at the end of it, and you'll be competing for jobs based on your skills and knowledge, not on where you went to uni. Tell him to visit City on an open day also to compare, but if he really likes LSBU then he's better studying at a uni he will enjoy for the 3 years of his course.

Reply 3

LinziSue

Thanks for the advice guys, I've just been online to request prospectuses from each uni so he can make up his own mind. I have a degree from CCCU and my partner went there for a year before dropping out (he didn't like the course he was doing at the time) and that's how we met! I'll be staying in the Gillingham area and this week he's been talking to CCCU students at the hospital. CCCU is probably going to be one of his top choices!