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What are your views on diagnostic radiography

Hi all basically i like radiography just want to know what your vies on diagnostic radiography and why choose it over radiotherapy
ps why dont much unis do this course is it not liked
Original post by Munez
Hi all basically i like radiography just want to know what your vies on diagnostic radiography and why choose it over radiotherapy
ps why dont much unis do this course is it not liked

Hey, just giving this thread a little bump in the hopes someone will see it and reply :smile:

Have you found University Connect yet? It's super useful for finding other people on your course/at your university! :smile:
Original post by Munez
Hi all basically i like radiography just want to know what your vies on diagnostic radiography and why choose it over radiotherapy


Some people want to be radiographers and be involved in the various methods of imaging on patients, some people want to be radiotherapists and want to be involved in the treatment of patients using radiotherapy. It's that simple.

Original post by Munez
ps why dont much unis do this course is it not liked


I don't quite know what you're on about here, it's done in quite a few universities that offer other NHS funded courses. Either way, courses such as radiography, radiotherapy and so on aren't done by universities because they're "liked" they done in universities as NHS funded courses, the NHS works out how many radiographers they think they will need and fund the number of places to train as one at university (this is a very crude explanation of how it works). As there are less radiographers than nurses there will be less places, just as there are less radiotherapists than radiographers so there will be even less places on that course.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Munez
Hi all basically i like radiography just want to know what your vies on diagnostic radiography and why choose it over radiotherapy
ps why dont much unis do this course is it not liked


Hi...
I did one year of Radiography at uni and didn't really like it much. Mostly because it's science-based, and I'm not fantastic at sciences lol!
I originally chose Radiography over Radiotherapy cos I did a work experience placement in a Radiography department and liked it at the time... So basically didn't really bother looking at therapy as I'd set my heart on doing radiography.

Quite a few unis do this course, so not sure where you've got that from! I would imagine it's well liked at the moment, as Radiographers are in high demand, both in the UK and the rest if the world. Plus, places like America like British trained Radiographers as they're trained to a higher standard than American Radiographers :smile:
Reply 4
Original post by KittKatt
Hi...
I did one year of Radiography at uni and didn't really like it much. Mostly because it's science-based, and I'm not fantastic at sciences lol!
I originally chose Radiography over Radiotherapy cos I did a work experience placement in a Radiography department and liked it at the time... So basically didn't really bother looking at therapy as I'd set my heart on doing radiography.

Quite a few unis do this course, so not sure where you've got that from! I would imagine it's well liked at the moment, as Radiographers are in high demand, both in the UK and the rest if the world. Plus, places like America like British trained Radiographers as they're trained to a higher standard than American Radiographers :smile:

What course are you doing now?
Original post by Munez
What course are you doing now?


I switched to English Language and Literature, with a minor in History. Just a teensy bit different :rolleyes:
Original post by Munez
Hi all basically i like radiography just want to know what your vies on diagnostic radiography and why choose it over radiotherapy
ps why dont much unis do this course is it not liked



see Moonkatt's reply

course and place numbers reflect the numbers needed for the profession, becasue it;s a clinical pre-registration programme a HEI cannot just run the course they have to get a DOH contract and HCPC approval

there are more diagnostic radiographers than therapeutic becasue there are more diagnostic jobs in more departments ...

the US doesn't have radiographers it has X-ray techs , this is why US radiologists like UK trained radiographers becasue they are considerably better trained and educated than the home grown techs,
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 7
Thanks all
Original post by Munez
Hi all basically i like radiography just want to know what your vies on diagnostic radiography and why choose it over radiotherapy
ps why dont much unis do this course is it not liked


Well as a student one year into studying it, I love it.

As for why to choose over radiotherapy, that's a pretty personal thing - it's all down to what you like. Diagnostic radiography has lots of patient contact with many, many different patients, you'll see lots of patients for short periods of time and likely won't see many again. You might see them two or three times if it's a clinic, but that's it. It's all about building a quick rapport and getting a high grade image. Therapy is a bit slower, you have more time with the patient to get to know them. Not exactly my thing. I like the quick interactions with a wide variety of people.

As for why many unis don't do it, it's a very strictly regulated course as has been said. You need a lot of approval from appropriate boards, the uni will need access to an xray room for training before placement (can be expensive) and the NHS gives its bursaries to a limited number of places, to try to make the number of graduates match the number of expected jobs, rather than in the USA, where many radiologic technicians are without a job, due to schools churning out a lot of them. (also radiographers tend to have more training and autonomy than the US versions)
Reply 9
You shouldn't be thinking of radiography and radiotherapy as two similar jobs to choose between. They are completely different in every single way you can think of, other than the fact they both use radiation, hence the similar job titles.

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