The chances of landing a job as a radiographer or cardiovascular-interventional technologist have increased, according to the latest workplace survey by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT)
The vacancy rate for radiographers rose to 4.2% in 2017, compared with a rate of 3.4% in 2015. The vacancy rate for cardiovascular-interventional technologists climbed to 8.7% this year, compared with a rate of 4.1% two years ago.
There is also good news for two other radiologic technologist occupations, based on vacancy rates that represent the number of positions that currently are actively recruited. For three other specialists, the job market has become tighter.
| Vacancy rates by specialty | |||
| Specialty | 2015 | 2017 | |
| Cardiovascular-interventional technologists | 4.1% | 8.7% | |
| CT technologists | 4.5% | 4.2% | |
| Mammographers | 2.6% | 2.7% | |
| Bone densitometry technologists | 1.0% | 1.7% | |
| Sonographers | 5.1% | 4.3% | |
| MR technologists | 4.2% | 3.9% | |
| Nuclear medicine technologists | 2.8% | 2.3% | |
Many of the vacancy rates were not significantly different from two years ago, but the survey does reveal a substantial rise in the vacancy rate for cardiovascular-interventional technologists, said John Culbertson, ASRT's director of research.
The survey also found the following:
- The average number of full-time radiographers per medical imaging facility increased slightly in 2017 to 8.7, compared with 8.4 in 2015.
- The average number of full-time CT technologists increased to 5.8 this year, compared with 5.5 in 2015.
- The average number of full-time mammographers rose slightly to 4.2 in 2017, compared with 4.1 in 2015.
The average number of sonography, nuclear medicine, cardiovascular-interventional, and bone densitometry technologists per facility decreased slightly. The average number of full-time MR technologists per facility remained the same at 4.1.
Radiography departments also are keeping pace with a steady workload. On average, survey respondents have 3.7 machines, see 11,658 patients per year, and perform 20,566 images annually.
ASRT emailed the survey this past February 2017 to 18,002 radiology department managers across the U.S. At the close of the survey on March 13, 947 respondents (5%) submitted completed questionnaires.
ASRT plans to conduct the survey again in 2019.
