What Does a Nuclear-Med Tech Do?

As a nuclear-medicine technologist, you are responsible for diagnosing diseases with the use of radiopharmaceuticals and imaging cameras. It is important that you are knowledgeable about strict safety regulations since you'd be interacting with radioactive substances on a daily basis.

Function

In nuclear medicine, you are required to use radionuclides to diagnose diseases. To map the radiopharmaceuticals, imaging cameras are used, which provide images that show metabolic changes inside of the human body.



Types

There are a variety of types of nuclear medicine, including PET, or positron emission tomography scan and nuclear cardiology. With the PET scan, 3-D views are provided of the human body. Then while patients are exercising, a nuclear cardiology can be used to see their optimal blood flow images.

Work Environment

Typically, nuclear-medicine technologists work 40 hours a week, which could include working nights and weekends. Most of the time they are on their feet, lifting and moving patients.

Outlook

The outlook for nuclear-med techs is said to increase by 16 percent by 2018. This is quite a steady increase, making the field ideal for those looking to enter into the healthcare field.

Salary

Working as a nuclear-med tech can be very rewarding financially. In this field, it has been estimated that their annual salaries are around $66,660, as of May 2008. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also estimated that the top ten percent of those working in this industry are making more than $87,770 each year.