Radiography Pre-Admission Information

The following tasks are mandatory for program entrance:

1. Information Session
   • You must review the Radiography Information PowerPoint before you can apply for the Radiography Program. Once you have done so, you are required to follow the instructions given on the PowerPoint.
2. Welcome Meeting
   • Program faculty conducts a welcome meeting after acceptance letters are awarded. We will notify you with specifics in your acceptance letter. Information regarding CPR certification, drug screens, background checks, observation, and fall orientation will be covered at the information session.
3. Observation
   • You will complete an observation at a designated clinical site. Information will be given during the welcome meeting. This must be completed prior to August enrollment.
4. Radiography Program Orientation
   • The orientation session is held in the summer before the start of the program.
5. Completion of BIO-163
   • You must have completed BIO-163, or its equivalent, with a grade of “C” or better before the start of the program.

Attendance is mandatory for the welcome meeting, observation, and program orientation. The time and location for all meetings will be provided to you once accepted into the program. If you do not attend, or make previous arrangements with the program faculty, you will be dropped from the rooster for the fall of 2024.

Radiography Program, A-B Tech Community College, 340 Victoria Road Asheville, NC

• Pass the national certification exam administered by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT)
• Licensure is required in most states, but NOT in North Carolina
• Mandatory continuing education for ARRT credential renewal-24 continuing education hours every 2 years
• ARRT certifications are time-limited to 10 years. Prior to the end of the 10-year period, the individual will be required to demonstrate continued qualifications to continue to hold the certification.

Currently, there are numerous openings for rad techs. We cannot predict what the job market will be like in the spring when you graduate.

Salaries

• Entry-level, Western North Carolina-(depends on setting) - $19.00-22.00 per hour
• 2023 National Median pay $70,810 year/$44 hour
• Job Outlook, the projected percent change in employment from 2020-2030is 9% increase (faster than average)Statistics taken from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Radiography Program, A-B Tech Community College, 340 Victoria Road Asheville, NC

• Full-Time Commitment: Involvement in the program requires a full-time commitment. Keep in mind that there will be many demands on your time. Working too many hours and excessive outside commitments take their toll quickly on radiography students.
• Impact on others: The significant others in your life must understand and accept the extent of your involvement in studies and class and clinical attendance. This may mean less time for recreation and other activities. However, the two years will go by very quickly.
• Background: A background in medicine, although helpful, is NOT required to succeed in this program.
• Costs: While an associate degree is not very expensive, there are other costs in addition to tuition and fees such as textbooks, clinical uniforms, transportation, and other supply costs. Consult with the A-B Tech financial aid office for assistance if necessary. There are also many scholarship opportunities through the Foundation Office.
• Program Challenges: While radiography is not extremely difficult to learn, there is an immense amount to learn. The volume of information that must be learned and retained is considerable. If you meet the prerequisites for admission to the program, there is no academic reason you should not succeed. The determining factors in your success will be your commitment to studying and practicing, initiative, motivation, and management of your time and personal matters.
• Study Habits: This program is challenging. Old study habits may not work. You will probably find there is so much to learn and remember from one semester to the next that your study habits compared to other general education type courses. However, if you have been a committed and successful college student in the past, you should be able to succeed in this program will need to be modified. This is especially true because of the technical material you need to remember
• Teaching/Learning Methods: The program uses several different teaching methods to assist you in learning. Classroom presentations, lab practice, online assignments, workbooks, audio-visuals, and written assignments are all part of your learning experience. By committing the time and effort, you will be able to master the art and science of radiography.
• Clinical: Clinical education is the most important component of learning medical radiography. This involves many hours per week at the clinic. Clinical education is fascinating, exciting, challenging, and very hard physical and mental work.
• Lifelong Learning: A career in radiography requires a commitment to lifelong learning. The profession changes constantly, which is also a part of what makes it so interesting. Keep in mind that continuing education is mandatory for renewing your professional credentials.
• Employment: Remember you are entering a profession that is committed to patient care twenty-four hours a day, every day. Health care does not close for the holidays.
• Attention to Detail: Attention to minute detail and concentration is critical in radiography because you will be producing radiographic images that are used in medical diagnosis or treatment. A sloppy, “that’s close enough” mentality is not suited for this profession

Radiography Program, A-B Tech Community College, 340 Victoria Road Asheville, NC

Students admitted to the Associate Degree Radiography Program at A-B Tech must possess the capability to complete all aspects of the classroom and clinical curriculum. This curriculum requires demonstrated proficiency using a variety of cognitive, problem-solving, manipulative, communicative, and interpersonal skills. Therefore, all students in the program must possess the following abilities and meet the following expectations:

Students must be able to:

1. Observe and participate in all demonstrations and experiments in the sciences related to radiography, including group and self-learning situations.
2. Learn to analyze, synthesize, solve problems, and reach an evaluative judgment.
3. Have sufficient use of the senses of vision, hearing, and touch necessary to directly perform a radiographic examination, review, and evaluate the recorded images for the purpose of identifying proper patient positioning, accurate procedural sequencing, proper radiographic quality, and other appropriate and pertinent technical qualities.
4. Establish a sensitive, professional, and effective relationship with patients and be able to communicate verbally in an effective manner to direct patients during radiographic examinations.
5. Provide physical and emotional support to patients during radiographic procedures, being able to respond to situations requiring first aid and providing appropriate emergency care to the patient in the absence of, or until further support arrives.
6. Acknowledge and understand limitations in their knowledge, skills, and abilities to seek appropriate assistance with the identified limitations.
7. Possess the ability to work collaboratively with all other healthcare professionals.
8. Learn and perform routine radiographic procedures, using the intellectual capacity to select proper technical exposure factors according to the individual needs of the patient and the requirements of the procedure’s standards of speed and accuracy.
9. Have sufficient strength, motor coordination, and manual dexterity to transport, move, lift, and transfer patients from a wheelchair or stretcher to an x-ray table or to a patient bed; move, adjust, and manipulate a variety of radiographic equipment, including the physical transportation of mobile radiographic/fluoroscopic equipment, in order to arrange and align the equipment with respect to the patient and the image receptor according to established procedures and standards of speed and accuracy.
10. Learn to respond professionally with precise, quick, and appropriate action in stressful and emergency situations.
11. Accept criticism and adopt appropriate modifications in behavior based on constructive criticism.
12. Possess the perseverance, diligence, and consistency to complete the radiography program curriculum

Radiography Program, A-B Tech Community College, 340 Victoria Road Asheville, NC

• Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
• American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT)
• American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT)
• Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT)
• Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
• Committee on Accreditation of Allied Health Programs
• Society of Nuclear Medicine
• Joint Review Committee on Education in Nuclear Medicine
• American College of Radiology
• Association of Educators in Imaging and Radiologic Sciences
• American Healthcare Radiology Administrators

Radiography Program, A-B Tech Community College, 340 Victoria Road Asheville, NC

(As of Nov. 2024, subject to change and some will be increased in the coming year.)

Please note the costs listed above are simply a program summary estimate.

It is provided to inform interested individuals of potential education costs.

Radiography Program, A-B Tech Community College, 340 Victoria Road Asheville, NC