Radiologists
Diagnose and treat diseases and injuries using medical imaging techniques, such as x rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine, and ultrasounds. May perform minimally invasive medical procedures and tests.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
Key knowledge
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Biology
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Education and Training
- Customer and Personal Service
- Physics
- Public Safety and Security
What the work involves
- Administer radioisotopes to clinical patients or research subjects.
- Advise other physicians of the clinical indications, limitations, assessments, or risks of diagnostic and therapeutic applications of radioactive materials.
- Calculate, measure, or prepare radioisotope dosages.
- Check and approve the quality of diagnostic images before patients are discharged.
- Compare nuclear medicine procedures with other types of procedures, such as computed tomography, ultrasonography, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, and angiography.
- Direct nuclear medicine technologists or technicians regarding desired dosages, techniques, positions, and projections.
- Establish and enforce radiation protection standards for patients and staff.
- Formulate plans and procedures for nuclear medicine departments.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Investigative, Realistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Doctoral Training (57.9% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (65.8%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 4 years, up to and including 10 years (35.3%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Radiologists is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 73% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 90% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 66% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 79% of occupations compared | 79% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 88% of occupations compared | 73% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 50% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 75% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 85% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 13.69%
- Contact with others about half the time: 13.75%
- Contact with others most of the time: 27.11%
- Constant contact with others: 45.45%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 3.9%
- Fairly important: 1.62%
- Important: 2.18%
- Very important: 26.84%
- Extremely important: 65.45%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2023
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0.98%
- Fairly important: 5.52%
- Important: 2.18%
- Very important: 29.73%
- Extremely important: 61.58%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2023
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 10.13%
- Limited freedom: 8.95%
- Some freedom: 2.22%
- A lot of freedom: 78.7%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2023
Time pressure
- Never: 9.97%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 16.88%
- Every day: 73.16%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2023
Conflict situations
- Never: 13.87%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 24.7%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 26.89%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 32.59%
- Every day: 1.95%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 3.9%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 26.32%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 24.11%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 28.43%
- Every day: 17.24%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2023
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 20.14%
- Fairly serious: 0%
- Serious: 10.07%
- Very serious: 14.46%
- Extremely serious: 55.34%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2023
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
Optometrists
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Medical Dosimetrists
Closeness 92/100 · job zone -1
- Analyze
Podiatrists
Closeness 92/100
- Analyze
Neurodiagnostic Technologists
Closeness 91/100 · job zone -2
- Analyze
Microbiologists
Closeness 90/100 · job zone -1
- Analyze
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
Closeness 90/100
Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 29-1224.00 · SOC 29-1224 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8