Radiology, as many other high-tech fields of the modern health care industry, has become a very promising employment market. The demand for highly qualified professionals in this segment is permanently high. As for the employment outlooks for the future - they are expected to be even better than today. The population growth and the senior citizens segment growth lead to increasing demand for health care specialists, including radiology technicians. Besides, the radiology technicians can find employment everywhere all over the nation, so the necessity of relocation - moving with a family to some other unfamiliar city or state- does not present a great problem for such professionals. Advantages of radiology technician professional specialization determine the popularity of this specialization among other high-tech segments of health care industry. This is a great pro in favor of radiology specialization.
On the other hand, there are no pros without contras, as they say. The present-day professional environment of radiology is highly competitive - too many guys strive to get an attractive and rewarding job in the field - and dynamic. Consequently, a good professional, in order to stay in the team, should take care of constant upgrading and enhancement of the professional qualifications, which is officially required by health care industry regulation. It's of critical importance to understand the necessity of continuing education for radiology technicians. Otherwise a professional will not be in position to advance his or her career in this field. The official requirement for radiology personnel qualifications are very strict and definite - any radiology technician registered with ARRT (American Registry of Radiologic Technologists) is required to obtain 24 hours of continuing education credits - if not, the guy is going to lose the hard-earned professional status. What is even worse, minimum half of all these credits must be of Category A. This requirement came into effect fifteen years ago and nowadays the Recognized Continuing Education Evaluation Mechanism takes care of upgrading the radiology technicians' professional excellence and skills - they should always be of state-of-the-art quality!
Probably, a lot of people consider continuing education just a waste of time, but with the radiology specializations it is different - any radiologic technician should take the utmost care about staying on top of the game throughout the whole career. The technology and radiology applied sciences are constantly on the move, modern medical technology is advancing speedily, the health care protocols are changing. Any professional in health care industry needs to upgrade his or her skills and knowledge at least once in two years.
What are the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists requirements for the continuing education of radiology specialists?
According to requirements of ARRT any registered radiology technician is required to renew his or her registration. The minimum requirement is 24 continuing education credits during the last two years. You have to be able to prove that you have obtained those credits, otherwise the ARRT will not renew your registration, and it will be suspended. And you will be left without such critically important professional designation as the registration with ARRT! As you see, the continuing education is far from being waste of time for radiology specialists!
Is it difficult to provide 50% of Category A credits, as approved by Recognized Continuing Education Evaluation Mechanism?
A piece of good news is that the minimum requirement of at least half of continuing education credits for radiology professionals is not as difficult as it sounds. The term "Category A activity credits" means that such credits need to be approved and evaluated by a Recognized Continuing Education Evaluation Mechanism, as simple as that. The difficulty level of such activities is not higher than the activities you were engaged with during the coursework you did to get your degree and become a certified radiologic technician. So, you do not have to worry about that. The detailed information related to Continuing Education Evaluation Mechanism and its requirements is readily available at the official site of ARRT and other online resources.
Keeping up with the continuing education requirements is of critical importance for the successful career development and professional growth of any radiology technicians who cares about further working in the field of health care industry. The Recognized Continuing Education Evaluation Mechanism is very far from being something of a fancy or a nasty hindrance, designed to make the life of radiology specialists miserable. Nothing of the kind, this procedure, though it might look troublesome for outsiders, helps a radiology specialist stay at the prime level of professional fitness, and that is an excellent thing in itself!
