Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Technology

Learn to administer radioactive compounds and operate specialized cameras that create images of a patient’s body to diagnose and treat disease.

Fall Term Begins
09/30/19

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Career Opportunities

Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging technologies, including PET/CT and SPECT/CT, are expected to be used increasingly and to contribute further to employment growth. The wider use of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging to observe metabolic and biochemical changes during neurology, cardiology, and oncology procedures also will spur demand for nuclear medicine technologists.

Employment

Nuclear Medicine Technologists are employed in hospitals, universities, medical clinics and research centers across the United States and abroad. There are more than 20,700 Nuclear Medicine Technology positions throughout the country. After further study, graduates may advance to positions such as chief technologist, research technologist, health physicist, radiation safety officer or an educator.

Students have been employed at externship sites in: Alaska, Washington, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, California, Missouri, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Hawaii, Arizona, and Texas.

Earning Potential from Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board

Salaries vary depending on the employer and geographic location. The most recent survey from the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board in 2013 shows an increase in mean salaries over the last seven years.

Coursework

Courses cover the physical sciences, biological effects of radiation exposure, radiation protection and procedures, the use of radio-pharmaceuticals, imaging procedures and techniques including PET and CT, patient care, and computer applications. For a more comprehensive scope and sequence, please see the curriculum map.

Our students take the same Computed Tomography and MRI courses that the Radiologic Science students take. This amounts to:

• 30 hours of Computed Tomography lecture
• 30 hours of Computed Tomography lab in a CT/MRI simulator lab
• 30 hours of Cross Sectional Anatomy
• 30 hours of MRI lecture
• 30 hours of MRI lab in a CT/MRI simulator lab

These courses far exceed the 16 mandatory hours of didactic coursework in Computed Tomography and Cross Sectional anatomy required by the ARRT for graduates to take the ARRT registry examination in Computed Tomography. The same goes for MRI. These courses, in addition to the required clinical competencies in CT or MRI while on externship, allow our graduates to sit for the registries with the ARRT in either CT or MRI after they graduate from Oregon Tech.

Courses

Notable Courses for Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging Technology include:

NMT 367 PET Imaging:

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging utilizes proton rich radionuclides to image metabolic activity of various types of cells within the human body. In particular, PET imaging assesses the growth and spread of certain types of cancers and their response to therapy, cardiovascular disease, and changes in neurological conditions.

NMT 325 SPECT/CT Imaging:

Spect/CT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) Imaging has become a standard imaging method in most Nuclear Medicine and Molecular imaging departments today. Spect/CT imaging utilizes emitted data from the patient to identify physiological changes in organ systems while the CT component provides an anatomical reference image for those same organ systems.