Video Transcript

Host:
Question: Can you get your X Ray Tech degree online, and how do online x ray technician programs work?

Jennifer:
Answer: To my knowledge, at least for the initial X-ray program, for you to go through that it’s in-person, maybe for the didactic work online, but you are required to do so many hours of clinical like in-person training. So from your it’s their core competencies. So you have to have so many competencies performed in mandatory exams, which would be things that you see basically all the time, like a chest x-ray, an abdomen x-ray, anything extremity wise, like a human forearm, femur. You’re required to have so many electives. So a lesson here would be something that possibly isn’t seen as often or ordered as often for a person, save for like sternum X-ray. Like to see a sternum X-ray comes through is usually very rare, even like a scar, right? You’re not performing all the time. And then they also to have competencies that you’re allowed to simulate. So x-raying the skull and like the facial bones is a so much like a common thing anymore. Sometimes because CAT scan is there and it’s so quick, a doctor might choose to just order a skull, CAT scan or facial bone actually doing the act. Right so, so, so as a student, you might be able to simulate it where a technologist who is reviewing or even your clinic would watch you perform it on your peer to make sure that the position that you’re doing is correct in terms of what’s required or what you’ve been taught on how to do it.

Farrel:
Answer: I wouldn’t do it online if there was any ways to do it online. I wanted to be hands on and be. You still have to do clinicals, but I liked having professors in front of me and they’ve all done all these things too. And that’s been their line of work is different modalities. You just get a different experience that way. But I do believe there are some technical colleges that will do it. Most of the ones I remember looking though you needed to be in person. So some of the modality types of things that you can do afterwards, like mammography wasn’t in-person. It was a self-paced online program through our professional society. And I just did it when I could.

Jenna:
Answer: If there’s someone who’s interested in doing that x-ray technician online degree path, on the joint review committee on education and radiologic technology that’s called the JCert. There is something called, find a program link using the radiography program and distance education filters, and it looks like there is a number of accredited certificate Associate and Bachelor degree programs that do offer a distance learning path for those core courses. And then you just do your clinical training at whatever the specified clinical site is that’s affiliated with that program. I do know that on the job training, that does not count towards your required educational hours that needs to be accumulated before you sit for the registry exam. So you have to have a certain experience that’s signed off for before you can set. So if you’re just working and you’re hoping to just use your work hours, usually it doesn’t work that way. You have to do these clinical hours separately, which is part of the accreditation or the program like they have specific requirements, but you can’t really go wrong with the JCert website per searching there for anyone who’s interested in that path.