About the Profession

Radiographers are the professionals who produce images by performing procedures and working with radiologists (physicians who are responsible for the final interpretation of the images).  As medicine has become more technical and physicians’ training programs have increased in length, so have radiographer’s training.   The first practitioners had little training and produced simple images on glass plates using archaic equipment – they were called x-ray technicians.  With more knowledge about radiation, more sophisticated equipment, and more education; we became  Radiologic Technologists.  With the addition of Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Vascular Interventional Imaging (VI), Cardiac Interventional (CI), mammography (M), and general digital imaging advances; our profession continued to expand, the need for more knowledge continued, and we became radiographers.  UAMS student radiographers study plain and sectional radiographic anatomy, radiation physics, exposure theory, equipment instrumentation, patient care, radiologic pathology, radiation protection and radiobiology and more. They work in the energized laboratory and interact with patients in various clinical settings.    They train to become  professional medical imagers – radiographers.  Radiographers are an important part of the patient care team.  The mission of the Division of Radiologic Imaging Sciences is to provide a progressive academic and clinical educational environment for qualified students and prepare them as competent and compassionate radiologic health care providers.  More than learning information, our students learn to think critically, so that they can succeed in a rapidly changing technological field.