What are some key questions you should ask yourself before choosing a career?

• What do I expect from my career?
• Will the career path I chose fulfill my needs both materially and mentally?
• What is the current and expected job demand for a particular career?
• How much schooling is required?
• Will I have to leave home or my home town to receive the required education I need?
• Will this career force me to travel often, and if so will this pose a family problem?

These are just some of the questions you should ponder over before ever deciding not only on a career, but before attending school. Knowing the direction you want your education to take you can cut down significantly on the amount of time you spend in school learning the skills or education you need. With a technical career, vocational and trade schools can launch you quickly from school, straight into the job you are looking for. They are able to do this because they have career minded programs that teach you what you need to know and not much of anything else. In most cases, this cuts out the basic courses you may have to take in a traditional college or university.

Career minded technical schools, often times, offer job placement programs as well. Many times trade schools have close ties with the community in which they are located and if they cannot get you a job directly, many times they offer many connections to the industry that you may not be able to make easily on your own. These connections many times lead to jobs in the future.
Here at the IT Career Hub we are dedicated to showing you many of the basics behind many technical or trade careers. We will touch base on many different trade school careers, such as auto mechanics and the schools that offer the courses need to succeed. The same will be done with technical careers such as that of an x ray technician and many other medical technical careers. We will touch on the schooling required, the job demand, job descriptions and annual salaries. We hope we can take some of the guess work out of choosing a life long career, and can help you to find a school that will get you were you want to go.

A medical lab tech helps medical personnel, such as doctors, to identify illness and disease so a treatment plan can be put into effect. This is a life saving work and attention to detail is very important so as to help minimize mistakes. A lab tech also has to be prompt and thorough in completing work tasks. This job requires a person to be ethical, honest, responsible, dependable, and reliable when fulfilling obligations. A medical lab tech’s job can at some times include high stress situations so a person considering this career will have to be able to deal effectively and productively with criticism and be able to remain calm in a stressful situation. Clinical and medical lab technicians work under the supervision of a medical lab technologist or lab manager so a tech needs to be able to follow instructions while remaining respectful and courteous.

A clinical or medical lab technician also has to be willing to take on responsibilities and challenges that other jobs might not require. Sometimes, the answer to a medical problem is not apparent right away, so a lab tech has to be persistent and keep trying to solve the problem. Lab techs also work in close quarters with other medical personnel so they have to be able to get along with others and keep the work environment friendly and non-competitive. Even though a lab tech works along someone else, they also have to be able to work alone and make their own decisions. At all times a lab tech has to remember they are working to help people and their work has to reflect this. It cannot be sloppy or inaccurate due to laziness.

The educational requirements for a medical and clinical lab tech are:

• A high school diploma or the equivalent. It will help if a person takes as many life science classes as possible during high school.

• Completing an associate degree program in medical lab technology that includes clinical training. A person seeking a career in this field can usually obtain their degree at a junior college, technical school, teaching hospital, or even from the armed forces.

• Candidates must also pass a national certification exam.

The medical field is ever growing and jobs will always be available to those who want to work for it. A lab technician will make a good living but the average medical lab technician salary greatly varies on the schooling, experience, age and location of ones job.  With motivation and time you can start a career in the medical lab field in little time.

Respiratory Therapists are required to complete at least an Associate’s Degree, which must be supported by either the Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care, or its predecessor, the Joint Review Committee for Respiratory Therapy Education, or the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, or, in Canada, by the Council on Accreditation for Respiratory Therapy Education. Education in anatomy, physiology, athophysiology, pharmaceutical agents, chemistry, physics, hemodynamics, and mechanical ventilation make a Respiratory Therapist an indispensable team member. Because cardiovascular and pulmonary systems are so closely related, a Registered Respiratory Therapist must also be skilled with the cardiovascular system, and participate in advanced life support situations, ECG testing and interpretation, cardiac stress testing, and critical care cardiac support.

When a patient has no breathing control, they may need the assistance of a mechanical ventilator. Respiratory Therapists are usually the only expert operators of this type of machine. Patients undergoing stress affecting their homeostatic balance may need to be administered therapeutic gases such as oxygen, heliox, and nitric oxide. A Respiratory Therapist may be called upon to intubate a patient to provide an open and protected airway. They may consult and administer therapies to improve the cardiovascular-respiratory system function to prevent lactic acidosis. They may also be needed to clear excess mucus or fluids from the bronchial tree, and to control swelling and inflammation in the bronchial passages.

Respiratory Therapists play a critical part in the Code Team of an ICU/ER (Trauma Room, Emergency Resuscitation Room). They are responsible for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation of the patient, as well as establishing an open and protected airway. Cardiac testing, the placement of Arterial Lines, and drawing Arterial Blood Gases for ventilation/oxygenation analysis are other tasks relegated to the Respiratory Therapist. They are the only professionals other than nurses and doctors who are available to provide care to ICU/ER patients 24 hrs a day.

Respiratory Therapy is a demanding, but equally rewarding field, providing the opportunity for variety, from the assessment and treatment of breathing disorders such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and COPD, to the more acute multi systemic problems common with other pathological conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, shock, asphyxiation, drowning shock or trauma.

Training requirements

During training an X-Ray Tech is instructed in medical terminology that they will need to know. They will learn how to operate x-ray equipment whether this be portable or stationed, they will learn how to take and develop x-ray films, and how to help an individual feel at ease while they position there body to get an accurate picture. This is an important part of the job as a x-ray tech may come across individuals who are nervous and uncooperative. This requires patience, compassion,and a good attitude to help a patient who is uncooperative or injured, so people skills are a must in this profession. During training expect to receive business ethics training as well because there are statutes that prohibit a X-Ray Technician from disclosing there findings on film to anyone, including the patient. That assignment will be handled by the physician. However a x-ray technician is trained to spot suspected emergecy problems which they will then immediatley report to a physician or radiologist.

Salary range

The salary of a x-ray tech was at a suprising low in july of 2009, but since then has had a huge boost and a trainee can expect to receive a starting annual salary of $45,000. There are however many x-ray technicians nationally who report a salary of up to $55,000 a year and up. There is even 5% of this population reporting annual earnings of up to $90,000. Also being certified with radiological medical societies and also having a bachelors degree can help you make more money as an x-ray technician. As with any career, many aspects come into play that determine the amount of money you can expect to earn in that career. Those same aspects affect the annual x ray technician salary as well. These variables include, your education and schooling, geographic location as well as your job location along with your total experience in the field.

Career environment

A x-ray technician will typically work  a normal  fourty hour work week. Usually working in shifts, a x ray tech will sometimes be  “on-call” and thus be required to come in on short notice. Most will report in at a hospital but many x-ray techs work at a clinic or privately owned doctors office. The environment should be at a place that is sanitary and friendly, therefore cleanliness and people skills are a must.

College or vocational requirements

There are colleges and universities around the country that offer two and four year degrees in this field, although most hospitals will except a two year degree and some will even except a degree from a vocational school.  The courses generally required to pass to become a sonographer are anatomy, physiology, instrumentation, basic physics ,patient care  medical ethics, sonographic physics, gray scale and color-flow Doppler sonography, human medical terminology, and the basics of obstetric and gynecologic sonography.

A sonographer does not require a license but you do need to get a certification from an approved registration. This can be achieved at one of the many diagnostic medical sonography schools located nation wide.

Career environment

A sonographer generally works about fourty hours a week. Usually working in shifts, a sonographer will sometimes be on an “on-call” basis and be required to come in on short notice.  Most will report in at a hospital but many work at a clinic or privately owned doctors office. The environment should be at a place that is sanitary and friendly.

Salary

Sonographers or ultrasound technologists can expect to receive an starting income of $15 to $18 dollars an hour or a sonagraphy salary of about $30,000 to $35,000 a year. Many sonographers work in a privately owned doctors offices where there annual pay is higher reaching close to $50,000 and up. Some other variables that will likely effect the average ultrasound technician salary is that of geographic location and that locations economy situation, your on the job experience level, job demand and how extensive your schooling and education is. With a continued education and a dedication to your career, many individual will see their annual ultrasound technician salary reach as high as $70,000 per year.

Career outlook

The Ultrasound Technician Career outlook shows that the field is growing while patients seek more invasive ways of having there medical treatment diagnosed and while not being exposed to differnet forms of radiation such as from radiograghic technology or x-ray. This field is also growing because of the population aging and a need to replace sonographers that leave the occupation or retire.  There is also a need for more sonographers as technology advances and more sonographers will be trained to use those technological advancements and apply them into the career.