Last Updated: June 25th, 2022 by
A radiologist is a medical doctor who specializes in using medical imaging to diagnose patients. That means you’ll work with diagnostic imaging like X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs.
In becoming a radiologist, you’ll go through medical school to become a qualified and licensed physician. Then, you’ll spend 4 years undergoing residency training in Diagnostic Radiology.
Interested to find out more about how to become a radiologist? In this guide, we’ll take you through everything you need to know about how to become a radiologist.
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Job Description
Before we take a look at how to become a radiologist, let’s go over what a radiologist is and what they do.
Overall, your responsibility as a radiologist will be to review the medical imaging results of your patients. More importantly, you’ll specialize in interpreting those images for the patient’s understanding, as well as that of any other doctor treating them.
The radiologist specialization breaks down further into two sub-specializations.
The first is diagnostic radiology, where you’ll be reviewing medical images and recommending treatment or follow-up tests.
The second is interventional radiology, where you’ll review images then treat the patient with non-invasive or minimally invasive methods.
There’s a wide range of different medical imaging technologies that you’ll work with, depending on the patient’s needs. For instance, you’ll work with X-rays, CT scans (computed tomography), ultrasounds (e.g. when working with pregnant women), and more.
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What Does An Average Day For a Radiologist Look Like?
When assuming this role, you can expect to have workdays that include:
Receiving and Reviewing Patient Histories
Before you can begin working on any of your responsibilities for the day, you must first gather information about the patients you’ll be working with.
That means you must gather patient histories by checking their records or speaking to their other doctors.
Once you have those details, you’ll then spend some time reviewing them closely.
This part of your day is crucial because it will allow you to plan the procedures you’ll need to perform and will give you an idea of what to look for when reviewing patients’ medical images later.
Performing Diagnostic Imaging Procedures
Once you’ve reviewed patient histories, you’ll be able to decide what medical imaging procedures are necessary for them. As such, a bulk of your day will be spent performing these imaging procedures, often with the help of radiologic technologists.
In other words, this is the part of the day when you’ll be operating the x-ray machine or any other diagnostic imaging equipment necessary for your patients.
Of course, this part of your day is also when you’ll be interacting with patients, explaining the procedures, and helping them stay calm until they’re completed.
Treat Patient Complications
Some patients will experience complications before, during, and after performing a medical imaging procedure on them.
As such, you must also plan for and treat those complications while they’re under your care. For instance, you might have to sedate the patient or monitor their blood pressure throughout the procedure.
When you handle these complications successfully, you’ll be able to continue the procedure without interruptions and obtain the clearest medical images possible.
Reviewing Findings From Imaging Procedures
After you’ve completed the imaging procedures, you’ll then gather those images and review them closely. At this point, you’ll be looking for any abnormalities in those images that might suggest the patient is facing a problem.
Your review of those findings will be guided by the patient histories you evaluated earlier.
Based on the patient’s health issues and the type of imaging procedure you performed, you’ll be looking out for different details in those medical images.
Preparing Reports Based On Findings
All of your work must be documented and updated in the patient’s records. That includes any medical imaging procedures that were performed, as well as your findings and interpretations of those images. These details will be seen by other doctors and medical professionals that work with the patient.
Depending on where you work, you might have to update the patient’s records on paper or key the information into a computer system.
This part of your day allows you to share your professional opinion to help other doctors and nurses provide much more tailor-made healthcare to the patient.
Explaining Findings to Patients and Their Physicians
Last but not least, you’ll also spend a significant portion of your day interacting with patients and their other physicians.
Remember: You’re likely working in conjunction with other doctors and nurses to provide the best care possible to the patient. You must spend time with the patient to help them understand the findings from the medical images you took.
Besides that, you’ll also be explaining the same to the patient’s other doctors.
Here, you’ll get a chance to share your professional knowledge and opinions with fellow medical professionals while also recommending further treatment or tests.
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How to Become a Radiologist: Process
We’ve discussed what a radiologist is and what they do, now let’s take a look at how to become a radiologist!
Overall, the process to become a radiologist is the same as becoming a doctor, but there’s the additional step of undergoing training for your radiology specialization.
In any case, this is what your process will look like:
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1. Pursue an Undergraduate Education
The first step in the how to become a radiologist process is to pursue an undergraduate education to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree. This will be your ‘pre-med’ stage, where you take courses required to apply for medical school later.
For example, you must take med school prerequisites like biology, physics, general and organic chemistry, and any others required by your target med school.
This stage is also an excellent time to improve your chances of getting into med school with co-curricular activities and anything else that will help you stand out among other candidates when applying.
2. Prepare For and Take The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT)
As a requirement for getting into med school, you must first take the Medical College Admissions Test or MCAT. The test is administered by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and it consists of an 8-hour computerized test.
To excel at this test, you’ll need to prepare for its 4 separate areas:
- Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
- Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS)
- Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
- Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior
Passing the MCAT with excellent grades will position you as a competitive applicant for the medical school of your choice.
3. Enroll in Medical School
There are two types of medical schools: Allopathic and Osteopathic. Becoming a student for 4 years at either one of them will help you in your journey towards becoming a radiologist.
During your time in medical school, you’ll spend the first half in the classroom learning the theoretical aspects of medical care. The second half, however, will be much more hands-on.
Upon completion, you’ll graduate with an M.D. which is required to become a radiologist.
4. Undergo an Internship and Residency
Once you’ve obtained your M.D., you’ll then need to undergo a 4-year internship and residency. The internship will take 1 year, after which you’ll be able to begin your residency in the radiology department.
During this time, you’ll begin working with medical imaging equipment and interacting with patients under the guidance of a radiologist.
This step in your overall process will also include examinations to test and prove your knowledge of the radiology field.
5. Pursue a Fellowship
After the internship and residency, you then have the option to pursue a fellowship to develop a sub-specialization.
As mentioned earlier in this guide, radiology specializations include diagnostic radiology, where you’ll be reviewing medical images and recommending treatment or follow-up tests.
Radiology specializations also includ interventional radiology, where you’ll review images then treat the patient with non-invasive or minimally invasive methods.
6. Get Licensed and Certified
Radiologists need to be licensed by the state to practice. On top of that, many employers also require their radiologists to be board-certified, which means they must pass the board’s written and oral exams.
For radiologists, there are two certification boards that they can choose from:
Are You Suited For a Radiologist Career?
Now that you know how to become a radiologist, it’s time to decide if this is the career path you want to take.
A radiologist career can be challenging and equally rewarding. To know if you’re suited for this career path, see if you have (or are willing to develop) the following skills and credentials.
Personality and Skills
First and foremost, a radiologist must have an excellent eye for detail. That’s crucial as most of the job involves reviewing and interpreting medical imaging and looking for things that most other people (and other doctors) won’t be able to find.
You’ll need to be curious and investigative. That’s because, in this role, you’ll be somewhat of a detective, trying to look for clues in medical images that will aid the patient’s treatment and recovery.
Patients and doctors alike rely on your expertise, which you’ll need to communicate to them for their understanding.
That process requires excellent written and spoken communication skills, both for when you’re explaining your findings face to face or when preparing highly detailed reports that other medical professionals will rely on.
Last but not least, you must also be empathetic towards patients, especially when you’re explaining your findings to them.
Remember: Many patients will be learning challenging health news from you, so compassion is essential.
Credentials and Proficiencies
In this role, you must be proficient in using all kinds of medical imaging technologies.
That will include x-ray machines, computed tomography (CT) scanners, ultrasounds (e.g. when working with pregnant women), and much more.
Besides that, you must also have a deep understanding of the possible complications that might arise surrounding these tests.
For example, some patients may require sedation or blood pressure monitoring when they experience stress from undergoing medical imaging tests.
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How to Become a Radiologist and Find Work
You know how to become a radiologist, but once you’re certified, how will you find work?
For this role, you can find employment at any medical facility with a radiology department or facilities that use medical imaging equipment, as that will be where your expertise is needed.
The exact type of medical facility that fits that criteria will depend on where you’re located. For example, cities with large populations will have plenty of large hospitals that require radiologists.
These hospitals will require medical imaging procedures for patients and will likely have all the necessary equipment on-site. As such, they’ll have a strong demand for radiologists.
Besides that, other medical facilities where you can find employment include:
- Physician’s Offices and Outpatient Care Facilities
- Diagnostic Centers
- Research Centers (including those in universities)
Radiologist Salaries
If you’re wondering how to become a radiologist, you’re also probably curious as to what the pay looks like.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), physicians like radiologists earn an average of $218,850 a year. The top 90th percentile earns an average of more than $208,000 a year, while the bottom 10th percentile earns $61,380 annually.
The 5 states with the highest salary for this role are:
- Maine: $279,700 a year
- Montana: $271,560 a year
- South Dakota: $269,100 a year
- Alaska: $266,200 a year
- Wyoming: $263,540 a year
Radiologist Job Growth
If you’re curious as to how to become a radiologist, you should know that, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the job growth for this sector is expected to continue at a rate of 3% from 2020 to 2030.
However, the BLS categorises this growth as being ‘slower than average’. Still, they estimate an increase of 24,800 jobs in this category by 2030.
Top Radiologist Specializations in 2021
Being a radiologist means being a doctor with a specialization in radiology. However, you still have two options for sub-specialisations that you can pursue, as well.
Those two specialisations are:
- Diagnostic Radiology: In this sub-specialization, your focus is on performing radiology procedures and reviewing the produced medical images. Then, you’ll recommend follow-up tests or procedures to the patient and their primary physician.
- Interventional Radiology: This sub-specialization involves the same tasks, though you’ll also be treating the patient. Typically, the treatments are non-invasive or minimally-invasive treatments. For more complex treatments, you’ll refer the patient to other specialists.
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Professional Associations
Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)
American Association of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT)
The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT)
American Healthcare Radiology Administrators (AHRA)
Association of University Radiologists (AUR)
Top Colleges and Universities
University of California in San Francisco
Conclusion
Learning how to become a radiologist is only half the battle. This career path requires years of medical schooling and training. That said, it’s an excellent position for those looking to join the medical field!
