Introduction to Radiologic Technology

Course Description

RTE1000C – Introduction to Radiologic Technology is the first course in Florida's Radiography A.S. curriculum, combining lecture with laboratory. At most institutions it is a 4-credit course running roughly 90 contact hours across combined lecture and lab, and it is normally taken in the first term alongside the introductory patient care and procedures coursework.

The course does two things. It orients students to the profession and the program — the role of the radiographer in health care delivery, the structure of a radiology department, the academic and clinical requirements ahead, professional organizations, and the credentialing and licensure pathway. And it establishes the foundational competencies a student needs before touching a patient or an energized machine: medical terminology, patient care and communication, infection control, patient transfer and positioning aids, vital signs, medical ethics and legal responsibility, informed consent, and the principles of radiation protection.

Radiation protection is the substantive core. Students learn ALARA, the cardinal principles of time, distance, and shielding, occupational and patient dose limits, personnel monitoring, and the specific obligation of the radiographer to protect patients from unnecessary exposure. This precedes any energized laboratory work, and for good reason: a radiography student is being trained to operate equipment capable of causing harm.

Professional and legal responsibility receives real attention — patient consent, confidentiality under HIPAA, scope of practice, and the ARRT Standards of Ethics. Radiographers work largely unsupervised with vulnerable patients, and the course establishes that expectation early.

Offered at approximately 20 Florida institutions with JRCERT-accredited radiography programs, including Broward, College of Central Florida, Daytona State, Eastern Florida State, Florida SouthWestern, Gulf Coast State, Hillsborough, Indian River State, Miami Dade, Northwest Florida State, Palm Beach State, Pensacola State, Pasco-Hernando, Santa Fe, St. Johns River, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee State, and Valencia.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Describe the radiographer's role in health care delivery and the structure of a radiology department.
• Describe the radiography program's academic, laboratory, and clinical requirements.
• Use medical terminology, abbreviations, and anatomical position vocabulary accurately.
• Apply patient care techniques including transfer, positioning aids, and immobilization.
• Measure and record vital signs.
• Apply infection control procedures including standard precautions and aseptic technique.
• Communicate effectively with patients across age groups and conditions, and obtain patient history.
• Explain the principles of radiation protection: ALARA, time, distance, and shielding.
• Describe occupational and patient dose limits and personnel monitoring requirements.
• Apply patient shielding and beam restriction to minimize unnecessary exposure.
• Describe legal and ethical responsibilities, including consent, confidentiality, and scope of practice.
• Apply the ARRT Standards of Ethics to professional situations.
• Describe the certification and Florida licensure pathway for radiologic technologists.
• Respond appropriately to patient emergencies within the scope of training.

Optional Outcomes

• Describe the history and development of radiography as a profession.
• Describe advanced imaging modalities and post-primary certification pathways.
• Describe venipuncture and contrast media administration where within program scope.
• Describe care of patients with tubes, lines, and medical devices.
• Describe cultural competence and care of diverse patient populations.
• Describe documentation and the electronic health record in radiology.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• The profession and the department — the radiographer's role, department structure, and the health care team.
• Program orientation — academic, laboratory, and clinical expectations and progression requirements.
• Medical terminology — word building, abbreviations, and anatomical and positioning vocabulary.
• Patient care — transfer techniques, body mechanics, positioning aids, and immobilization.
• Vital signs — measurement, normal ranges, and reportable findings.
• Infection control — standard and transmission-based precautions, aseptic technique, and equipment disinfection.
• Patient communication — history taking, instruction, and communication across age and condition.
• Radiation protection principles — ALARA, time, distance, shielding, and inverse square law.
• Dose limits and monitoring — occupational limits, dosimetry, and the pregnant worker and patient.
• Patient protection — shielding, collimation, technique selection, and repeat reduction.
• Medical ethics — the ARRT Standards of Ethics, professional conduct, and patient dignity.
• Legal responsibility — consent, confidentiality and HIPAA, documentation, and negligence.
• Certification and licensure — ARRT credentialing and Florida Department of Health licensure.
• Emergency response — recognizing patient distress and responding within scope.

Optional Topics

• History of radiography and radiation discovery.
• Advanced modalities and post-primary pathways.
• Venipuncture and contrast media.
• Patients with tubes, lines, and devices.
• Cultural competence in patient care.
• Radiology information systems and PACS.

Resources & Tools

• Introduction to Radiologic and Imaging Sciences and Patient Care (Adler & Carlton), Elsevier — among the most widely adopted texts for this course.
• Patient Care in Radiography (Ehrlich & Coakes), Elsevier — a common companion or alternative.
• Radiologic Science for Technologists (Bushong), Elsevier — the standard reference across the curriculum, used here for radiation protection.
• ASRT — the Radiography Curriculum and practice standards shaping course content.
• ARRT — Standards of Ethics and certification content specifications.
• JRCERT — the programmatic accrediting body.
• Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Radiation Control — state licensure requirements.
• Laboratory — positioning aids, transfer equipment, dosimeters, phantoms, and energized room access.

Career Pathways

• Radiologic Technologist (SOC 29-2034) — the target occupation; hospitals, imaging centers, orthopedic and urgent care practices.
• Computed Tomography Technologist — the most common advanced modality, entered by post-primary ARRT certification.
• MRI Technologist (SOC 29-2035), Mammographer, and Interventional Radiography.
• Radiation Therapist (SOC 29-1124) and Nuclear Medicine Technologist (SOC 29-2033) — related fields with separate credentials.
• PACS Administrator and Applications Specialist.
• Program Faculty and Clinical Coordinator — requiring additional education.

Florida employers include AdventHealth, Orlando Health, BayCare, Baptist Health, Memorial Healthcare, Tampa General, and Lee Health, plus a large freestanding imaging center sector. The state's older population sustains high imaging utilization and steady demand.

Special Information

Credit and title variation across Florida

Values and names differ. Valencia College lists RTE1000C at 4 credits (3 lecture hours plus 3 laboratory hours weekly) with RTE1111C as corequisite; other institutions list RTE1000 without the C at 2 or 3 credits, sometimes splitting patient care into a separate course. Titles include Introduction to Radiologic Technology, Introduction to Radiography (Valencia), and Introduction to Radiography and Patient Care (Florida SouthWestern) — the last signalling that patient care content is combined here rather than taught separately. Students transferring between Florida radiography programs should compare contact hours and content coverage rather than credit counts alone.

Program admission is the real gate

The universal prerequisite is acceptance into the radiography program, and Florida radiography programs are limited-access and highly competitive — cohort sizes are capped by clinical placement capacity, and waitlists of a year or more are common. Admission typically requires prerequisite general education (anatomy and physiology, algebra, English), a minimum GPA, background check, drug screening, immunizations, and healthcare provider CPR. Prospective students should treat program admission, not this course, as the planning problem.

Certification and Florida licensure are two separate things

Graduates of a JRCERT-accredited program are eligible for the ARRT certification examination. Separately, Florida requires state licensure through the Department of Health, Bureau of Radiation Control, to practice as a radiologic technologist. That is a legal requirement, not an employer preference, and it is distinct from ARRT certification. Both are normally required for employment, and students should plan for both applications.

Position in the curriculum

This is the entry course of the radiography sequence, typically taken with RTE1111C (patient care) or equivalent and preceding RTE1418C Principles of Radiographic Exposure I and the radiographic procedures sequence. Most programs require a minimum grade of C in every radiography course to progress.

The minimum-grade rule catches students out

Radiography programs almost universally require a minimum grade of C in every program course, and a single grade below that typically means withdrawal from the cohort with re-entry only if a seat opens in the next year's class. Because cohorts are capped, re-entry is not guaranteed. Students should understand from the first term that the usual academic safety net does not apply here.