Is being a Radiologic Technologist a dangerous job?

I am back in school and want to do something in the health care field...Radiologic Technology was my first choice, but then I have read horror stories about Rad Techs getting cancer, so I switched to RN...I would really love to be a Rad Tech though...any suggestions? Thanks! :)

Why would I choose a job that was going to give me cancer? There is no increased risk of cancer for radiologic technologists. We know how to protect ourselves. If you really want to do it, don't let that misconception stop you.

You can find more information about radiation safety at hps.org.

If you follow procedures being a x-ray tech there shouldn't be any problem doing that job. Radiation is all around us and we generally receive a dose of 200 mr's a year just from natural sources.

The chances are higher that you will be killed in a car wreck than get cancer from x-ray exposure.

First look into your real world employability.
A lot of areas have TOO MANY schools/students flooding the job market.
If you are a male in todays PC/backwards thinking and acting society you will not be as employable a woman. If you do not believe this read the magazine: Advance for Radiology Technologist article from maybe 2 months ago.
Look at how many jobs actually only hire women.
Look at how a job that a male is not usually restricted from being hired for is combined with one that is.
It will be hard work for you to find out what goes on in the real world but it could save you a lot of $ and time.
Remember the schools only have one interest, can you guess what that is?
Hint your well being is not on the list.

I'm a new X-ray tech and I can honestly say you are trained extensively on how to protect yourself, and your patients (as much as you possibly can) from radiation. We get radiation from so many other sources in our environment, it is impossible to say that someones cancer is caused from being an x-ray tech. In fact, in our course, we looked at studies that have shown that the incidence of cancer is no higher in x-ray techs as it is in the general public. Its not like it used to be. The x-ray beam is filtered, and protection is much better than it has ever been. I would encourage you to take the x-ray course. It is a very fun and exciting job, but I am a bit partial to it :) If you have any questions about the job, let me know!