A Healthcare Imaging Technician works with high-tech equipment to create images of the inside of bodies, which help doctors diagnose conditions
If you’ve ever broken a part of your body, like an arm or a leg, you may have gone to the hospital for an X-ray. An X-ray produces an image of the inside of the body, which enables doctors to look at bones and make a diagnosis of many other conditions. There are lots of other machines for looking inside the body too, like MRI scans, CT scans, and PET scans.
Healthcare Imaging Technicians work with cutting edge equipment to produce these images. This helps doctors to diagnose illnesses and suggest the right treatments.
An important part of a Healthcare Imaging Technician’s role is supporting patients – explaining what’s involved in a procedure, helping them to get into the right position to achieve the best image possible, and answering any questions they may have.
You could be the technician who provides reassurance, helps to diagnose people’s conditions, and enables the right treatment to start.
With experience you could become a specialist in a particular area of imaging, or progress to the position of team leader.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
As well as interacting with patients, you will work with a wide range of healthcare staff, including doctors, nurses, and hospital porters. You will primarily work in the diagnostic imaging department of a hospital, but you could also provide support in the emergency department, operating theatre, intensive care unit, and by taking mobile imaging units to hospital wards.
This role can also be known by some other job titles including:
Imaging Support Worker
Radiography assistant
