Radiography

[Atomsaway]

Hello,
My son (year 12) is interested in a career in radiography.
Does anyone have any suggestions for good books to read to help with his UCAS application or any tips please?
Most of the books I have found are text books for radiography students, which are possibly not what we’re after.
Thank you!

Shadowing a radiographer would be the best bet - has he tried?

Not yet. We don’t know any radiographers but he has managed to get an email for the radiography department at the local hospital.

A local physiotherapist will do simple and ultra sounds of joints, might be worth a try
Same with local vets and dentists, they will have x rays, ct, cbct imagining on site etc….

I'd advise him to have a look at social media, lots of great posters on Instagram for example (lauradiography and Ben potts come to mind). I feel the social media posters can give a good idea of what the job actually entails. Lauradiography posts lots of ucas tips too. You can search for "day in the life of a radiographer/student radiographer" on YouTube and Instagram.

As you already know, most universities require shadowing experience, I'd try a few hospitals, I went to a smaller local hospital for mine, and had a great time. Most hospitals will have a work experience department to organise this, definitely do some googling, it can be difficult to get through to who you need to on the phone.

He sounds like he's starting from a strong place, I helped with interviews at my uni one year and we had many applicants who didn't seem to know much about why they wanted to be a radiographer or what the job was even about.

No worries about books etc. unless he really wants to, this is a good time of the year to pick up job lots from end of course students on ebay though.

Have a look on here https://www.stepintothenhs.nhs.uk/work-experience/smart-guide/how-to-find-and-contact-your-local-trusts
also ask his school careers adviser if they have local contacts. Check your nhs trust website for careers info.
Go to uni open days for the course.

My niece has just coming to the end of her radiography course at Keele.

She had a gap year and worked at the local hospital at the radiology dept.

a years work as HCA in radiology department will be invaluable for experience .

Thank you so much everyone! Some great ideas!
He’s very keen to get a job as a radiography assistant and then do a degree apprenticeship through London Southbank. No debt or fees as he can stay at home.

I didn’t even think about other professions who use imaging. Great idea.

He did five days of virtual work experience with allied healthcare and then someone told him they did radiography for his favourite football team, so he was sold! 😂

Has he had any thoughts about either diagnostic or therapeutic radiography? It used to be 2 different degrees although this might have changed

Ds qualified 3 years ago, he had to choose right from the beginning if he wanted diagnostic or therapeutic (radiotherapy). He chose therapeutic and trained at U.W.E in Bristol. He works in our local radiotherapy unit now, although he’s just applied for a job in Singapore!

He didn’t do any work experience in a hospital, but he’d had various other jobs and applied in his mid 20s.

https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles

Click on "Roles" in the "Allied health professionals" bar.

Note, as the very first point, that diagnostic radiography and therapeutic radiography are different roles and different careers: you can't do one with a degree in the other.

He definitely wants to do diagnostic. Also thinking about converting to vetinary radiography at a later date.

Radiographer here!

I think the main things I was going to say have been said by other posters. Lots of unis do require some kind of work experience/shadowing in a radiography department so definitely get that sorted. Interview and application wise, very important that he shows an understanding of the profession and knows why he wants to do it. Obviously it's not just about taking images of broken bones, there's a lot of patient care and communication involved and radiography goes beyond clinics, it's A&E, critically ill patients on intensive care, babies on neonatal unit etc. We had quite a few people in my cohort who dropped out after a few weeks because once they started the first placement block they realised radiography wasn't what they thought.

Can be stressful and high pressure at times but it's a brilliant career and there are lots and lots of career and development opportunites and specialities to move into.

I know this is an old thread, but DD is applying for an accelerated masters in diagnostic radiography.

She found it unbelievably difficult to get some shadowing experience in spite of contacting several NHS trusts. She eventually managed to get some this week. She has been working in a pharmacy for the last two years and is used to dealing with distressed and difficult patients.

Is there anything else that she needs to take into account when writing her personal statement?

Is it useful to include that she witnessed some horrible verbal abuse from a patient and felt that it didn't put her off applying?

@RampantIvy yes she could include incidents of verbal abuse, but she would need to explain how she dealt with it, and show some insight into why these situations may occur. They will be looking for understanding/empathy but also skills in defusing situations, and also resilience.

Thank you @MissyB1
She was shadowing and didn't want to escalate anything so she just kept quiet as did the student who was there. She would be able to add some insight though.

The form the abuse took was illegal but the radiographer felt that the best way forward was that of least resistance. The patient was a large and aggressive male and it could have got physical. He was told to leave.

Awful that healthcare staff have to face this kind of aggression 🙁

@MissyB1 it’s constant!

She needs to recognise she will be working in a multidisciplinary department…docs, nurses, admin staff, porters, HCA’s, scientists…..and I havnt even mentioned managers!
Good luck, it’s an interesting g, worthwhile profession.

Thank you @Gall10
I apologise if I have derailed the thread too much @Atomsaway

Hey! No worries at all! Some very useful info here. Sorry to hear of the abuse your daughter had to endure.

I hope you don't mind me resurrecting this thread, but DD has an interview next week for radiography. Can anyone let me have any hints or tips that I can pass on to her please?

No need to apologise. I’ll be interested to hear any responses. Good luck to your daughter!