Radiographers?

maggie18x

hi i was just wondering are there any radiographers on this and what do they think of their job?what are the good/bad aspects of the job?is it well paid and is it true you have to specialise after to get a good job?what are the job prospects like?thanks a mil:)

Stepherunie

I'm a final year radiography student in UCD at the moment.

I'll do it in stages as you've asked a fair few questions:

Job Prospects:

At the moment a lot of hospitals are still operating under the recruitment ban so we can't get jobs. However normally there are very good job prospects, with more and more people qualifying in the UK and larger class sizes in Ireland though it is getting tougher to get the most sought after jobs (which tend to be in Dublin).

Good Aspects:

It's an interesting job to be honest, I like doing it. You don't have autonomy which can be annoying but you get a lot of patient contact and we work as part of teams which is great.

There's plenty of areas of specialisation, as undergrads we study CT, MRI, RNI, Ultrasound, Plain Film, Trauma, Mammography amongst others. You can specialise later one and do masters/ phds depending on what you want.

Bad Aspects:

You work 9 - 5 Monday to Friday as well as on call. That can get a bit stressful etc.

You lack autonomy, this is especially annoying as more and more career progression is happening in the UK but it's not transferring them across.

Pay etc:

Starting pay is around 35,000e before your on call. You can earn up to 50,000e the year you qualify.

To be honest for career progression you have to specialise, you get trained in anything but you do need to do some sort of post grad for the clinical specialist jobs.

In saying this you're not limited to postgrads in straight radiography, with Radiography going so digital these days people do MSc in Comp Sci etc and that's really important.

Also there's also the good old MBA Health Care Management Stream if you want to go down the management route.

tallaght01

quality post, stepherunie.

I didn't even know what a radiographer was before today :P

2Scoops

Stepherunie wrote: »

Bad Aspects
You work 9 - 5 Monday to Friday as well as on call.

Some would argue that's one of the good aspects of radiography in Ireland!

Stepherunie

One could, as a newly qualified radiographer the money is fab so it's worth it

As a radiographer who's married with young kids etc, could be a complete nightmare.

I do on call shifts in my current job so i do nine to five college then on call work after and I find it stressful and it's sad because I end up missing a lot of things (events etc) because I'm working.

DrIndy

Stepherunie wrote: »

I do on call shifts in my current job so i do nine to five college then on call work after and I find it stressful and it's sad because I end up missing a lot of things (events etc) because I'm working.

Join the club! The worst was a 1 in 5 rota - on 3 times in 7 days - we would do a week of hell every 5 weeks to allow more weekend time off.....

The thing as well is the only friends who actually understand the pain of an on call shift are other doctors - no one else really believes you. Other docs have no sympathy though coz they do the same thing.

Chunky Monkey

All the radiographers I've met rock (quite a few from South Africa)! At least you'll be working with nice people I think UCD is the only college that has the course?

Stepherunie

For Diagnostic yes, there's usually about 40 per class so it's nice and small and you get to know everyone really well (a blessing and a curse).

If you're interested in doing theraputic radiography (radiotherapy for cancer patients) that's in Trinity and they're classes are smaller with only 20 students per class.

The University of Ulster, Jordanstown also do it in Belfast but after that it's off to the UK.

If you are considering the UK though you have to remember that a lot of places won't take you unless you have done Leaving Cert Physics, it's not as bad in Scotland but that is particularly the case in England.

Vorsprung

Stepherunie wrote: »

The University of Ulster, Jordanstown also do it in Belfast but after that it's off to the UK.

I remember seeing a UUJ student in Vincent's sometime last year, would she have been on an elective or do they have random random tie-in with the hospital?

Stepherunie

Elective students. A lot of people who don't get it via the CAO go to UUJ and often do the end of their summer placements down south so they're close to home.

It's pretty standard across all radiography courses to be honest, a few people in my class have gone to the UK etc and most of us went to our local hospitals pre the change for elective placements.