Radiography / Radiotherapy insights please!

[hampshiremum321]

Is anyone here a radiographer, radiotherapist, or training to be either of those? I would love to hear some honest opinions about these careers - warts and all.
What do you love about your job?

What don't you like?
What are the hours like and is this a career you would recommend to others?
It is very difficult to get shadowing experience in the pandemic.
Appreciate any insights - thanks!

Can’t even pretend to have a clue about this.

Hope someone else can help.

All I can say is that the daughter of a friend started training for this and gave up because she hadn’t realised she would be dealing with so many sick people. It isn’t all about x raying broken limbs.

I'm not one, but I have worked with therapeutic radiographers all my career, and to a lesser extent diagnostic ones. With therapeutic radiography, there are less places to work (60 odd centres in the UK) but the hours are much better throughout training and work as it is almost always 9-5, Monday to Friday, bank holidays off and lots of people work PT. Although there are different specialisms within it, you get to establish a relationship with patients and there is a lot of opportunity to train for an extended role now and I know radiographers who run clinics and do lots of things formerly done by doctors.
Diagnostic, there are obviously loads more of and the specialisms vary more in the complexity and different hours. Shifts, nights, weekends common depending on the setting and all settings have their pros and cons. More opportunity to move around if you don't like the department where unless you are in London with RT its much harder as they are spread out

Thanks to everyone for their insights

Hi, only just seen this but thought I'd respond as I am a diagnostic radiographer. I qualified as a very mature student last year so have been working full time for 6 months in the NHS.

I love my job, but it is very hectic and the shifts can be tiring. We have to work out of hours so shifts vary to include nights, twilights (4pm to midnight) and various day shift patterns including long days (13 hours). You are on your feet most of the time and have to move patients on trolleys, beds, big pieces of x-ray equipment etc.

You can work in general x-ray (which is where I have started) which includes A&E, theatre, ward mobile x-raying, fluoroscopy imaging and more. You never know what your day will hold and it never gets boring. I love working with patients and you do have to have a good patient care manner.

The only thing that surprised me was the theatre imaging, you do a lot. Operating an x-ray machine whilst the surgeon works is a bit scary at first, but you get to see all sorts of surgery, which can be gruesome but I am fascinated by it.

My youngest was 10 when I started my degree so I could handle the placements ok, it was about 50% placement, 50% uni, but I did have to travel quite a distance to my hospital site.

You are given a lot of responsibility even as a new starter, which can be scary, but the time flies and I always come home feeling I've made a positive difference to someone's life. From one day old babies to frail elderly people who pass away as you arrive to x-ray them, you see it all, but it is a largely unknown role in the NHS which underpins most patient pathways.

Good luck!

I did forget to add you can specialise in many imaging modalities too, which is usually a post grad thing, but CT, MRI, ultrasound, mammography, nuclear medicine, interventional radiography.... lots of scope for future practice.

DD is one, been qualified 3.5 years so I’ve lived through her every up and down. She works at a large teaching hospital with a major trauma centre. Her shifts as a band 5 were gruelling, lots of nights and twilights and many 12 hour shifts. There’s a reason newly qualified get all the grunt work as it isn’t sustainable for years. The first few years are spent in department, doing mobiles and in theatre but in a large trust after that the opportunities are endless.

You have to work some part of Christmas every year in her trust.

She’s now a band 6 senior though in plain film and with a specialism in paediatrics. She has responsibility for co-ordinating the list, supervising newly qualified and passing or failing student clinical tests. Where she works there’s lots of opportunities and she works with a great set of wonderful people. The hours are better now as a band 6, less nights and weekends.

All that said she loves her job, it’s hard no doubt about it, challenging and in her city centre hospital she has seen the worst of the worst and also the best of the best.

Police and handcuffed patients, substance abuse, horrific traffic accidents, abused children, elderlies with advance and violent dementia are all in a days work.

smaller and community hospitals might not get the same footfall, she did some of her training in a naice area, but the opportunity to progress isn’t the same in those.

She has no plans to leave ever, just develop and progress and like the poster above, she is never bored.

Can’t answer about getting your job shadowing as it’s not something DD mentions and she had to travel 40 miles to get hers five years ago. I would approach as many hospitals as you can, and some universities did have an agreement with their local hospital when DD was applying. I think Salford was one, which is why she travelled so far for hers.

Thank you so much @bluefineliner and @WutheringHeights66 - this has been so insightful!

@bluefineliner - if I pursued this I would be a "very very" mature student . What is a typical shift pattern for you? I am aware that there are long shifts, nights shifts etc - but was wondering how it worked over a week?

It is good to hear that it is never boring! One thing I wanted to ask - is violence/abuse (directed at you from drunk patients for example) something that happens regularly, and how do you deal with it?

Thanks again to you both, this has been really helpful.

From DDs perspective she has been punched and verbally abused numerous times (usually dementia) but really violent patients are restrained by the police. From what she tells me, where there a risk you’re not alone and can refuse to do an X-ray where there is abuse or no cooperation. You are not left in an unsafe situation alone. What she did say was the older radiographers seem to be happier in the community hospitals, her clinical experience of these were elderly falls and breaks, falls from horses, rugby accidents, farm
Machinery accidents (I did say it was a naice area, and it is ) whereas the younger ones prefer to be where the action is in the city hospitals.

Radiographers are highly sought After in our area, you can pretty much pick your preferred hospital. DD applied for five jobs before graduation, she was offered three before she qualified and accepted her preferred one and withdrew from the final two before interview. Just one other thing, and I say this as a 50 something, DD says it can be a very physical job and she has had several rounds of osteopathy for her shoulders using the equipment in theatre. She can also easily do 10000 steps when on portables and you have to wear a heavy lead apron and PPE for hours in theatre.

Anyway don’t let me put you off, I’ve never done the job lol 😂 I am just repeating what I heard over the dinner table for the last few years. I h AB be to admit I find it massively interesting and if I had my time again I would consider it myself. I think some people think it’s easier than nursing, apparently it isn’t. All HCP deserve medals 🎖

Hi OP,

If it makes you feel better I am late forties, so very much one of the very mature newly qualifieds. I work at my local hospital, which is a smaller one, but trained at a city teaching hospital, so have experience of both.

I fit in well where I work and never feel too old (apart from when my newly qualified colleagues realise I'm older than their mum . )

I have come across very distressed patients with dementia or mental health issues who lash out, but haven't yet been injured thankfully. Yes you get abusive patients, some with addictions, but you learn very quickly how to handle things, and you are usually working with others. However, I work lone nightshifts so am very aware of keeping myself safe, and yes, you can refuse to image a patient.

I work one shift pattern per week and have to do two weekend shifts per month. But... this is unusual and one of the reasons I chose my hospital because it works better with a family. My shifts could be for instance, Mon-Fri 11am-7pm, then following week Mon-Fri twilights, then nights, which could be Sun/Mon/Tues or Weds/Thurs/Fri with the rest of the week off. It sounds complicated, but it just rotates round so you get used to it.

We need all ages of newly qualified radiographers in our profession as more mature students can bring other skills to the role so don't let age put you off. It is good you are giving thought to all these issues now, as it can be a shock if you aren't prepared for NHS out of hours working. I definitely don't regret qualifying, and wish I'd done it a decade ago, however, I find the shifts do able because my youngest is a teen and I have very good support from DH who wfh so can pick up any domestic bits I can't. I am not sure I could have done it without this support, or with much younger children.

Hope this helps.

I definitely don't regret qualifying, and wish I'd done it a decade ago

My second career is a million miles from healthcare but this really resonates with me. If I had known - 10 / 20 / 30 years ago - how much intense satisfaction it would bring I wouldn’t have wasted so much time. And I’d have been much further ahead now.

@WutheringHeights66 thanks for your reply, you have given me a lot to think about. The physical side of the job was something I was vaguely aware of, but it does sound rather intense if your poor daughter had to have treatment for her shoulder! It is interesting to hear the radiographers are very much in demand though. Does your daughter have any insights into therapeutic radiography? I also found it interesting that you said that most of the violence seems to come from patients with dementia - not something I had even considered! Despite this, she loves her job which is great to hear. Thanks again for your reply - I really do appreciate it!

I'm a radiographer - qualified when I was 20 ( diploma course )and now work in research - flexible hours , I'm a band 8b and I love it . I'm mid 50s and haven't done shifts or on call for 20'years . I work in a large trust with many part time roles and great opportunity for specialism. Have you looked into the masters conversion courses? If you have a relevant primary degree it's a shorter route.

If you're unsure you could try for a post as a healthcare assistant or AP in radiology to see the job first hand for a while - many of our radiographers start out on that route

@bluefineliner thanks you for your further insights. A job in healthcare was not even something I had considered before as I thought it was too late. Going to university open days with my daughter who wants to work in healthcare, almost all of them were saying that their oldest students were in their 50s! Nursing, ODP - all sorts. This made me start thinking about it, and also thinking about when retirement age is and that I would still have a good few years to work. It would not have been possible years earlier with the kids younger as I have no family nearby and DH works a long way from home, however, they are now older and he WFH most of the time.
Do you have any knowledge of therapeutic radiography? My understanding is that there are far fewer opportunities for jobs here as only a few selected hospitals across the country do this.
Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

@Carriemac what is a AP in radiology?

OP, your circumstances sound so similar to mine!

My daughter is a physio, and this is what made me look into a healthcare role. No previous experience of healthcare, but so far it is the most rewarding (if tiring) thing I've done!

An AP is a band 4 assistant practitioner role, in radiography you can x-ray patients, but need your images checked by a radiographer, but it is a great role and gives a perfect view into the job. I did this as bank staff from 2nd year of my degree to get some practical experience (we had a lot of covid disruption to our placements in 2020) alongside finishing my degree. You do need the have the first year of the degree under your belt to be able to do the AP role. A healthcare assistant (HCA) in radiology would also give a good insight, but doesn't involve doing actual x-raying.

I don't have knowledge or experience of therapeutic radiography as no unis did the course near me, and the jobs would have been too far as well. If I was in a better location I would definitely have looked in to it.

@bluefineliner do you have a favourite part of your job? What do you think you would like to specialise in later on?

Hi OP,

I am very open minded with regards to specialising. I am the kind of person who likes to be competent at their job so want to stay in general for a couple of years to make sure I am good at what I do before I move on!

Based on my very little experience of the other modalities so far, maybe MRI (I did my elective and lit review on this) or mammo.

I think because I am at a different stage of life to most new starters I get different things from my job, and having been a supervisor and manager in the past, have no passion for getting back into that side again. I get my job satisfaction from dealing with patients just now. This may change as I gain experience though.

Are you thinking of applying for Sept 22 entry?

My 27 year old ds is in his 3rf year of training, will qualify in the summer. He’s specialised in radiotherapy. He loves it! He has really enjoyed all his clinical placements. It’s quite different to diagnostic radiography I think in terms of shifts etc. He will be pretty much just weekdays, no night shifts and unlikely to work bank holidays.
Obviously the work can be upsetting, he sees some very sad cases, and does not want to work in a centre where kids are being treated.

@bluefineliner hi, yes, I am thinking 2022 but if not then 2023.

@MissyB1 yes, I can imagine that there would be some very sad cases. Particularly children as you say! Are there a lot of jobs available in therapeutic? Has he got something lined up?

@hampshiremum321
Yes I think there’s plenty of jobs. They start applying around now for the summer. He’s picky about areas though! He wants to be near the coast down south.

Hi all,

I'm actually starting my access this year (I'm 34 with a 13 yo and a single parent). I actually worked for a private ultrasound company and then went into non clinical management with them. I've left now but working with the sonographers made me realise what I wanted to do. Obviously to become a sonographer you need a healthcare degree first and whilst it's not necessarily limited to radiographers- this is the normal route.

If it's something you think you want to do, then there's always a way! I've just taken a role as a healthcare assistant in the community which I'll do alongside my online access course.

Hope you all do well!

Thanks for this. May I ask what age you classify as very mature student? I'm 53 and considering a new work path so it'd be interesting to know at what age you started the course.