Becoming an MRI Tech – Certification
MRI is short for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. An MRI program is basically a degree or series of courses that help people become qualified to get a job as an MRI Technician. MRI’s have quickly become a widely adopted technology to spot diseases and to just run diagnostic tests on patients that have general symptoms. This technology allows doctors to be able to see internal images of their patient’s body that prior to MRI’s would have been virtually impossible to see short of a surgical procedure. The technology was initially discovered when scientists were studying nuclear magnetic resonance. In fact MRI was originally known as NMRI (nuclear magnetic resonance imaging). It takes special training for a tech or doctor to be able to perform an MRI scan and currently there is a high demand for people that are trained on this procedure. The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that this profession will see continued growth at least through 2012 and most likely beyond due to an aging population and an increase in the uses for the procedure.
The ideal career path is for a student to go to college and get either an associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree in a related technology and then to sit for a certification exam. Becoming a certified MRI technician gives you a tremendous advantage over any MRI techs that are not certified. It is highly recommend that you check with your State’s licensing board to determine what the requirements are for you to site for the exam in your State. It’s also important to note that you may want to check into an unlimited State license if you plan to move to another State at any point in your career. Other normal requirements for licensing and certification:
- Associate degree or bachelor degree in allied health field, and be certified in another clinical imaging field (such as ARDMS or NMTCB)
- You should have 6 months supervised MRI clinical scanning experience
- You usually need to be evaluated by a responsible physician to assure competence
- You should have experience in the intravenous administration of conventional MR contrast, supervised by a qualified physician or a qualified technologist
- Maintain Basic Life Support (BLS) certification (recommended)
- You should be capable of using an automatic external defibrillator (AED).(recommended)
Most schools will have an allied health science degree for you to select (usually both an associate’s degree and a bachelor’s degree). Please do make sure that the program you select is approved by the certifying bodies for your State.
