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I don't know anything about x-ray tech. but this might be of interest to some. A relative of mine ventured out on an independent contracting gig, driving her personal car to clients called by her salesman partner, to do ultra-sound for customers. She got alot of government clients. She made BIG money but missed the bennys, hours, ect. of working for hospital. She was in Denver, CO market and I was told it is being done in Phoenix, AZ and going great. She was planning on franchising in cities across U.S.
I don't know anything about x-ray tech. but this might be of interest to some. A relative of mine ventured out on an independent contracting gig, driving her personal car to clients called by her salesman partner, to do ultra-sound for customers. She got alot of government clients. She made BIG money but missed the bennys, hours, ect. of working for hospital. She was in Denver, CO market and I was told it is being done in Phoenix, AZ and going great. She was planning on franchising in cities across U.S.
That would be mobile work. Some mobile companies bring the machine to the facility, or have them there, or you drive a van. I haven't found any yet who are looking.
What is nice about it is...you are not locked into the politics of one place and you can go in and do your work and concentrate on doing a good job.
In my area (Delaware Valley, PA/NJ) most veterinarians don't do their own X-rays, ultrasounds, etc. It seems only the large animal hospitals have those. Don't know what your geographic area is like, or if you are willing to go where there is demand.
Most vets here rely on these traveling X-ray/imaging contractors that go from vet to vet performing these tests. I guess they are self-employed and contract with vets to perform the service.
I hear from a lot of folks (we all go to different vets) that these people are in demand, and that the doctors can't get them out to their offices frequently enough. For example, my cat needed an X-ray, and if I waited to have it done at my vet's office, it would have been almost a week. So he apologized and sent us to a 24 hr animal hospital.
So if you like animals, plus you have this technical experience, you might not want to rule out veterinary so quickly. You could probably learn the anatomy/physiology stuff in no time at all!
In my area (Delaware Valley, PA/NJ) most veterinarians don't do their own X-rays, ultrasounds, etc. It seems only the large animal hospitals have those. Don't know what your geographic area is like, or if you are willing to go where there is demand.
Most vets here rely on these traveling X-ray/imaging contractors that go from vet to vet performing these tests. I guess they are self-employed and contract with vets to perform the service.
I hear from a lot of folks (we all go to different vets) that these people are in demand, and that the doctors can't get them out to their offices frequently enough. For example, my cat needed an X-ray, and if I waited to have it done at my vet's office, it would have been almost a week. So he apologized and sent us to a 24 hr animal hospital.
So if you like animals, plus you have this technical experience, you might not want to rule out veterinary so quickly. You could probably learn the anatomy/physiology stuff in no time at all!
I've talked with some vets in the past, so I got a picture of what that was about. People come up with jobs that don't really exist. Vets don't advertise for techs, because usually a vet assistant or the doc does the Xray or scan themselves.
I haven't talked to one hospital that hires registered techs so if you come across one, please send it to my CD direct messages. I would be highly interested.
But I am not moving again. I just moved my son from his school and I am just going to have to make it here or go back where we came from, but no new schools. That's enough pressure on him. A lot of people don't realize how stressful and hard relocating is. I have done it about 5 times in my life now.
Also, if someone does Xray and goes and contracts out, they must have another job to keep themselves afloat. I cannot imagine they would have enough work in a week to get by.
I'm not an Xray tech by the way, other modality here.
You could probably learn the anatomy/physiology stuff in no time at all!
Took me three solid years to learn what I know about human anatomy. I still don't know it all. When someone outside my field tells me how easy something would be, they don't have a handle on it. I know you are trying to be helpful, but I wouldn't pretend to know someone else's profession.
There are a lot of anomalies and pathologies, so you have to know normal anatomy very well, and what looks like a problem, or too big or too small, or what could be affecting something else. They make us know what the doctors know, so we can tell them, and they are the deciding factor, but they ask us what we saw.
I wouldn't want some animal to go to surgery, because I didn't know his anatomy well enough, and unless a vet is trained in reading greyscale ultrasound live, he is going to be depending on me to know what I am looking at, and if there is an abnormality.
Learnable? Yes...but all animal species aren't the same either.
First, I know that the techs don't read the films or tests or whatever they are. They take the pictures, so to speak, and the doctor reads them. My one cat had plenty of ultrasounds, and they were all interpreted by the actual doctor. No one would have decided to operate based on something the ultrasound tech said. I was not pretending to know your profession. I clearly spoke as a person who takes pets to the vet, not someone claiming to have any imaging or veterinary expertise.
Second, when I said that you could probably learn the new physiology in no time, I guess I was trying to be nice and imply that even though you are out of work now, and have taken some difficult hits, that you are probably smart enough to learn new information for a new career. Sorry for that assumption.
Third, yes of course, all animals are not the same. Please don't talk down to me. I'm quite certain that the woman who did regular ultrasounds on my cat for 3 years proably learned dogs and cats. That's probably over 90% of the veterinary clientele covered right there.
Fourth, I have noticed that since you posted about your situation, many people have jumped in and tried to offer both encouragement and practical advice. You reject both again and again. What were you hoping for when you posted? You've shot down ideas for jobs and career moves, You've shot down simple, innocent attempts at support. These are all people who don't know you, but are caring enough to type back to you something they think might be at least a tiny bit helpful. And you seem to respond over and over with "yes, but..." or even hostility.
I don't know you, and even though you have me really ticked off right now, I still hope for the best for you and that you find what you are looking for. Whatever that may be.
Location: Upstate NY native, now living in Houston
663 posts, read 2,263,659 times
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I think neb is just going through a tough time....
neb - everyone is trying to help ... try if you can to look on the bright side of things ... and think of that saying "everything happens for a reason."
It is against the law for a "tech" of any sort to read for a radiologist. It is his report, and his license on the line....he knows exactly what he's looking for, hence the MD. Wow....a tech reading and inputting on a report? bad news....HUGE liability.
4 reps to you Tracy for trying to help, so did I....
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I have to get back to veterinary again....
