Advice please

[spyda4ce]

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I have a question ..im starting college this yr and i want to pursue radiology as my career, so i wanted to know if i should apply to a college that teaches radiology or should i first take classes for radiology tech and then transfer to another college that teaches radiology?Would it be better getting an associates degree in radiology tech b4 anything? any advice would be helpful thanks!

 

[f_w]

Pursue 'radiology as a career' as in:
A. becoming a 'registered radiology technologist' ?
B. becoming a diagnostic or interventional radiologist ?

For A, you would typicically go through a rad-tech program which is typically run by a hospital in cooperation with a 2 or 4 year college. After that you can gain additional qualifications such as MRI or CT, or a management degree if you plan to advance beyond 'just taking x-rays'.

For B, you would do an undergraduate degree in science to include the 'pre-med' classes. Then try to gain admission into medical school. Finish 4 years of medical school followed by 5 years of residency.

 

[spyda4ce]

Im not in med school now ,so i should transfer after the 1st yr to a med school and just pursue radiology....and I live in NYC what are some med schools that are in the area (that have radiology) and if you know what gpa is the minimum for them (if you know,if not its ok)?thanks

 

[DHMO]

Im not in med school now ,so i should transfer after the 1st yr to a med school and just pursue radiology....and I live in NYC what are some med schools that are in the area (that have radiology) and if you know what gpa is the minimum for them (if you know,if not its ok)?thanks

You need to clarify what it is that you want to do. If you want to be a rad technologist (choice A in f_w's response) and be involved with taking images, the people on this forum probably do not know a whole lot about the process.

If you want to be a radiologist (choice B in f_w's response) and be involved with interpreting images, the people on this forum will have much more advice to offer. Becoming a radiologist is a much longer road than becoming a rad tech. You must first get a bachelors degree from a 4 year university or college. Then, you must go to medical school which is difficult to get into. I would say that the 'average' medical student in the US has about a 3.5 GPA and 30 on the MCAT. Once you graduate from medical school (4 years), you have an MD and must go through 5 years of training called residency. At that point, you could call yourself a 'radiologist.'

 

[spyda4ce]

You need to clarify what it is that you want to do. If you want to be a rad technologist (choice A in f_w's response) and be involved with taking images, the people on this forum probably do not know a whole lot about the process.

If you want to be a radiologist (choice B in f_w's response) and be involved with interpreting images, the people on this forum will have much more advice to offer. Becoming a radiologist is a much longer road than becoming a rad tech. You must first get a bachelors degree from a 4 year university or college. Then, you must go to medical school which is difficult to get into. I would say that the 'average' medical student in the US has about a 3.5 GPA and 30 on the MCAT. Once you graduate from medical school (4 years), you have an MD and must go through 5 years of training called residency. At that point, you could call yourself a 'radiologist.'

Yes i want to be a radiologist,and thanks you answered all the main question i wanted to know about. 🙂 You said i have to 1st get a bachelors degree,what is this for(is this what premed is?)

 

[awdc]

In general, a bachelor's degree (four-year college/university degree) is required to get into medical school. You can major in anything you want in college but you will have to make sure you take all the prerequisite courses that medical schools require. So essentially, you can be "pre-med" with any major in college.

 

[MedGeek42]

Unfortunately, this is the beginning of a brutally competitive process. You want to get into a good college (i.e., well ranked in U.S. News), to improve the chances of getting into a good medical school, to improve the chances of getting a rad spot and the quality of your rad spot.

Sick, huh? 🙁