While only a hand full of states currently require Radiologic Technologists to have a license in order to practice their jobs within those states, most qualified Technologists voluntarily register themselves with the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, or A.R.R.T. for short. While the ARRT is a private registry with no official government connection, their standards for becoming registered are exacting enough that several of those states that do have licenser laws regarding x-ray do not require technologists who are registered to take the state license exam.

To become registered, a technologist must first graduate from an approved radiology program of approximately 20 - 24 months in length. The technologist must then pass an examination which is generally 3 - 4 hours in length, and covers everything from general radiation physics to in-depth questions on human anatomy. Nor is that all. Once a technologist is registered, he or she must get at least 12 credits worth of continuing education a year to keep their registered status.

Now for the important part, what does this mean to you as a patient? Well give me a minute to break out my soap box, and I'll tell you why I think it matters.

First and foremost, x-rays are a form of ionizing radiation, and, while they may not be anywhere near as dangerous as some in the news media would have you believe, too much of anything can be dangerous. If the technologist taking your x-rays is registered or licensed, you can be sure that they have received the training that will allow them to keep the amount of x-rays you are exposed to at a minimum while still getting good, high quality films. If they are not licensed or registered, then you have no way of knowing just how much training they have received.

Secondly, I've lost track of the number of times I've seen patients come into one of the hospitals I work at with a broken bone and a set of x-rays from some Doctor's office or Emergency Care Clinic of such poor quality as to be just about useless to the Orthopedist who was supposed to treat that person. Each time it was necessary for us to take yet another set of x-rays just so the Orthopedist could see what He or She needed to know before the patient could be treated.

Nor are these the only problems. In 1991, I read an article about a study carried out by a major insurance company in a state that did not have a licenser law. In this study, the insurance company collected x-rays from as many sources as they could, and removed all identifying marks from the films except for a code number that identified where the film came from. They then hired a Radiologist ( a doctor who specializes in reading x-rays) to rate each film as Diagnostic (high quality), not Diagnostic but useable, or not useable. Not surprisingly, those places most likely to hire only registered technologists (such as hospitals and orthopedic offices) scored 85% or better in the number of films that where of Diagnostic quality. The disturbing point however was that this study found that those places more likely to train an existing employee to take their x-rays rather than hire a registered technologist had more than 65% of their films rated as not useable!

So what can you do to assure yourself that the person who will be taking your x-rays is qualified? Well if you live in a state that requires Radiologic Technologists to have a license, you don't have to worry. If not, the simplest thing you can do is ask if the person who will be taking your x-rays is registered with the ARRT. If they are not, or they are not a student in an approved program working under the supervision of a registered technologist, then refuse to allow them to do your x-rays. Remember, it is your right as a patient to refuse any exam, test, or treatment you do not wish to have performed on you, plus it is also your right to refuse to allow a particular person to perform any exam, test, or treatment on you. If anyone up to and including your Doctor questions you about it, just tell them that you refuse to allow anyone who is not a licensed or registered technologist to take your x-rays. They may try to talk you out of it, but they can't force you to have the exam.

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