RIC Medical Imaging Students Secure 98% Job Placement Rate

The B.S. in medical imaging program at Rhode Island College prepares students to use imaging technologies to create pictures of the inside of the body that help physicians diagnose, monitor and treat diseases and medical conditions.

RIC has partnered with Brown University Health’s School of Medical Imaging to offer the B.S. degree in medical imaging. All the courses are RIC courses, taught by RIC adjunct faculty; however, students attend classes at the School of Medical Imaging located on Prairie Avenue.

For the first two years, they take their general education and prerequisite courses in anatomy and physiology, chemistry, physics and math, along with a one-credit orientation to medical imaging course.

In their junior year, they officially apply to the medical imaging program. Admission is competitive and is not guaranteed. Applicants will be required to have a minimum GPA of 2.7, a minimum grade of C in their prerequisite courses, score in the 60th percentile on their entrance exam, score successfully on their personal interview and submit an essay.

Once admitted, they choose from one of the following four concentrations:

• Diagnostic medical sonography (Ultrasound)
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Nuclear medicine technology (NMT)
• Radiography (X-ray)

Radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, capture detailed images of various body structures, including bones and soft tissues.

Nuclear medicine technologists give patients small amounts of radioactive material to assess bodily function and to diagnose and treat many diseases.  

Diagnostic medical sonographers, also known as ultrasound technicians, work with high-frequency sound waves to create images of soft tissue.

MRI technologists use powerful magnets and radio waves to create clear images of soft tissues like muscles, organs, and the brain. By aligning tiny particles in the body, MRI provides detailed, non-invasive views for medical diagnosis.

Often students may choose more than one concentration. In that case, they are asked to rank their choices in terms of highest to lowest preference. Once they’ve been assigned a concentration in the first semester of their junior year, they take intro courses in that concentration.

Clinicals begin second semester. That’s when they start seeing patients supervised by hospital employees who are also adjunct instructors in the program.

Their clinicals are held at Rhode Island Hospital, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, Newport Hospital, University Orthopedics, Rhode Island Medical Imaging and Women & Infants Hospital, among other sites.

“As they engage in their clinicals, they’re rotating through a number of different locations,” notes RIC Associate Professor Eric Hall, who is also program faculty advisor. “Every rotation is essentially a job interview. As they go about their clinicals, they’re being observed and could possibly be offered a job at that facility. We have students getting jobs before they graduate and before they pass the certification exam [the exam they must take to become registered as a medical imaging professional].”

Job placement for RIC graduates is over 98 percent, and their pass rate on the certification exam is approaching 100 percent.

“That’s not true of every medical imaging program,” he says. “There are students who graduated from other programs who struggled with the certification exam. They come to us to redo their entire program here and end up passing the exam.”

Ultimately, medical imaging technologists are in great demand with high median salaries.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023), the median salary for full-time radiographers is $73,410, for magnetic resonance imaging technologists $83,740, for diagnostic medical sonographers $84,470 and for nuclear medicine technologists $92,500.

To learn more about RIC’s program, visit Medical Imaging B.S. and the Brown University Health’s School of Medical Imaging.