Health Professions
Radiologic Technology
Please contact RadSci@uwlax.edu with any questions regarding the new Rad Tech program.
Profession
Radiologic Technology is a medical specialty that uses x-rays for diagnostic and research purposes.
Highly simplified, a typical procedure would involve you to;
- consult with the physician (Radiologist) as to the correct procedure for the patient;
- educate the patient as to the procedure you will be performing on them,
- position the patient for the most optimal image, and
- acquire images of the patient.
Some of the primary responsibilities for Radiologic Technologists are:
- Operating equipment used to produce medical images.
- Caring for the ill and injured.
- Positioning patients for diagnostic examinations.
- Calculating proper exposure factors.
- Processing images and assessing the diagnostic quality of the radiographs.
- Assisting the radiologist with fluoroscopic examinations, treatments with ionizing radiation, diagnostic testing, angiographic procedures, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and mammography.
To learn about the job outlook for Radiologic Technologists, please visit Employment Outlook
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (UWL) offers a Radiologic Science Major: Radiologic Technology Emphasis in which a student could earn a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree.
The student can accomplish this in two to three years of course work at UWL and a two-year internship at an affiliated hospital. The first two years at UWL are typically occupied with fulfilling general education requirements, as well as taking introductory prereq classes. Further information is available in the Radiologic Technology advising guide Rad Tech Sample Schedule
Students typically apply for admission to the Radiologic Technology program in the middle of their sophomore year. Once accepted, the student will begin their internship at UW Health in Madison, WI.
UWL is academically affiliated with these hospital-based programs.
Both Radiologic Technology programs are fully accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT). Upon successful completion of the student's internship at one of the programs, graduates are eligible to take certification examinations. UWL graduates have done very well on these exams and have an excellent record of employment after graduation and certification.
Professional Licensure Disclosure
If you plan to apply for licensure in a state other than Wisconsin after completion of this program, you should refer to the Professional Licensure Disclosure website and contact the other state's appropriate licensing board to determine whether the UWL program meets licensure requirements in that state.
Admission to the program is on a competitive basis. The number of students admitted to the major is dependent on the number of clinical internship sites, their student capacity and the qualifications and competitiveness of the students. As a result, we encourage students to apply to both clinical partners.
The application is available on the UW Health website. Please submit a completed UWL course table with your application. Applications are due to Pete Amann (4033 HSC) by December 1.
- Students are advised to apply for admission to the professional program early in the late fall prior to desired admission, after having taken or registered for all general education and pre-professional requirements.
- Applicants are required to have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale and a grade of "C" or higher in all general education and pre-professional courses. Applicants are required to have a minimum pre-professional grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.
- Students must have a recent set of immunizations prior to admission to comply with hospital policy, this includes COVID-19.
- Applicants are considered without regard to sex, race, color, creed, religion, national origin, disability, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status, or parental status.
- Students for whom English is a second language must earn a minimum score of 600 (paper-based), 250 (computer-based), or 100 (internet-based) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or a score of 6.5 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam within two years prior to application to the program.
- Applications must be submitted in full by deadline to the school of radiologic technology.
- After receiving applications, UW Health will contact applicants directly via email with instructions for submitting the application fee electronically.
Selection process
The university will sponsor clinical interns each year as necessary.
The size of the program is limited by the clinical internships. Students must make formal application to the program during the fall semester to meet the December 1 deadline. Refer to the sample degree plan file. To be accepted to the program, the program maintains a selection committee composed of representatives from the university, healthcare community, and the clinical affiliates. The committee evaluates each application on the basis of the applicant’s past academic performance (a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50 is required for admission into the professional program), their references, their interest in the healthcare field, their past work experience, and the results of a formal interview. Based on these factors, the applicants are ranked and accepted for entry into the professional program.
Acceptance is effective at the beginning of the fourth year and conditional upon successful completion of all courses in progress at the time of notification of acceptance. Selection is also conditional upon students’ compliance with state laws for caregivers including submission to a criminal background check. Students take the pre-professional core courses in La Crosse.
Students who successfully meet program requirements in the pre-professional core courses will interview with the clinical internship sites and upon selection by one of the sites will be placed for the clinical internship.
The application is available the Northcentral website. Students planning on starting the core program courses in the Fall 2024 semester should select "Spring 2024" on their application.
Students are to submit unofficial transcripts for all post-secondary coursework when applying. Once all post-secondary coursework is completed, with grades posted, students will be required to forward official transcripts.
Students gain acceptance through a petition process to be submitted in the spring. Radiography Petition Process.
Students who have met all program petition requirements and have submitted a complete petition form during the designated petition window will be invited to take the Health Education Systems, Inc. (HESI) A2 Exam in the spring.
Radiologic technology affiliated clinical internship sites:
Tuition and costs of professional education
While at the clinical internship, which spans two academic years, students will pay the base tuition rate to UWL, in addition to a “clinical experience fee” which will be assessed each semester in the program. These fees are a percentage of the base tuition rate and may fluctuate slightly and are approximately $6,500 per academic year. Additionally, students may have fees, assessed by the clinical internship program, which are associated with professional costs like textbooks, caregiver background checks, scrubs, etc.