Careers for Rad Techs: Way Beyond X-Rays  

Saline Richards

Rad Tech Program: Outcomes (2006 – 2009) 146 participants enrolled  118 completed training 101 received industry-recognized credentials Approximately 100 have been placed in health care jobs.

Saline Richards forged a second career as a radiology technician—or ‘rad tech’—at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Her achievement is noteworthy. Just a few years ago, a series of personal setbacks left her unemployed and in a frightening downward spiral.  Evicted from her home and receiving public assistance, she needed a new career but couldn’t afford to return to school.

Richards found help through the New York City Sectors Initiative, a public-private effort to support training programs in identified areas of workforce growth. Radiological technology was one of them. Advances in the field, including computerized tomography (CT) scanning and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have created jobs, but workers require additional training and credentialing.   

The rad tech program provides up to two years of training at Long Island College Hospital. Participants qualify for careers in hospitals, imaging centers, and physicians’ offices. Richards is one of many ‘second chance’ students who took advantage of the training programs offered through the Sectors Initiative which, in addition to radiation technology, include training for emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics.

The success of the Sectors Initiative inspired New York City officials to create innovative, one-stop centers for job seekers in industries needing workers. Well-designed sector programs have been found to be effective in helping low-income workers gain access to higher-wage, entry-level positions.