Radiographic Procedures II Lab

Course Description

RTE1513L – Radiographic Procedures II Lab is the laboratory corequisite to the second radiographic positioning course in a Florida radiography A.S. program. It is a 1-credit, 32-contact-hour course, and the ratio matters: a student spends roughly twice the clock time in this lab as the credit value suggests, because laboratory hours run at about two hours per credit rather than one.

This is where positioning is actually learned. The lecture course teaches anatomy, projection terminology, and technical factors; the laboratory is where a student places a live classmate or a phantom in position, sets the tube, collimates, selects exposure factors, produces an image, and then evaluates whether it meets diagnostic criteria — and repeats that until it is right.

Content follows the paired lecture course and typically covers positioning and imaging of the vertebral column — cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacrum, and coccyx; the bony thorax — sternum, ribs, and sternoclavicular joints; the pelvis and hip; the skull, facial bones, and sinuses; contrast studies of the gastrointestinal and urinary systems; and trauma and mobile positioning adaptations. Institutions distribute these across Procedures I, II, and III differently.

Work centers on competency demonstration: students are checked off on each projection against a defined standard, using an energized laboratory with phantoms and, for non-exposure practice, classmates as positioning models. Image critique — evaluating an image for positioning accuracy, anatomy demonstrated, technique, and artifacts — is a graded skill in its own right.

Offered at approximately 14 Florida institutions with JRCERT-accredited radiography programs.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Position a patient or phantom accurately for each projection covered in the course.
• Identify and use anatomical landmarks to establish positioning.
• Select appropriate central ray direction, angulation, and entrance point.
• Set appropriate source-to-image distance and image receptor size and orientation.
• Collimate to the anatomy of interest and demonstrate collimation on the image.
• Select technical exposure factors appropriate to the part and patient.
• Apply radiation protection including shielding, collimation, and the ALARA principle.
• Apply proper marker placement and image identification.
• Produce diagnostic-quality images of the vertebral column, bony thorax, pelvis, and skull as assigned.
• Evaluate images against established diagnostic criteria for each projection.
• Identify positioning errors on an image and state the specific correction required.
• Identify artifacts and their causes.
• Adapt standard positioning for trauma, mobile, and non-cooperative patients.
• Communicate instructions clearly to a patient and confirm understanding.
• Apply infection control and equipment safety practices in the laboratory.
• Demonstrate assigned competencies to program standards.

Optional Outcomes

• Describe pediatric and geriatric positioning modifications.
• Describe positioning for contrast studies and fluoroscopic procedures.
• Describe digital imaging exposure indicators and their use in evaluating technique.
• Describe equipment quality control checks.
• Describe patient assessment and history taking relevant to the examination.
• Relate laboratory competencies to ARRT clinical competency requirements.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Laboratory safety and equipment — energized lab protocol, tube operation, and control panel.
• Positioning terminology — projections, positions, body planes, and relationships.
• Cervical spine — routine and special projections, including trauma adaptation.
• Thoracic and lumbar spine — routine, oblique, and lateral projections.
• Sacrum and coccyx.
• Bony thorax — sternum, ribs, and sternoclavicular joints.
• Pelvis and hip — AP, lateral, and axiolateral projections.
• Skull and facial bones — standard cranial projections and positioning lines.
• Paranasal sinuses — upright positioning and air-fluid levels.
• Contrast studies — GI and urinary positioning as assigned.
• Technical factors — kVp, mAs, SID, grid use, and digital exposure indicators.
• Radiation protection — ALARA, shielding, collimation, and lab dosimetry.
• Image critique — diagnostic criteria, error identification, and correction.
• Trauma and mobile adaptation — modifying position rather than moving the patient.
• Patient communication — instruction, breathing, and immobilization.
• Competency evaluation — checkoffs against program standards.

Optional Topics

• Pediatric and geriatric modifications.
• Fluoroscopic procedures.
• Digital imaging and exposure indicator interpretation.
• Equipment quality control.
• Patient assessment and clinical history.
• ARRT competency mapping.

Resources & Tools

• Merrill's Atlas of Radiographic Positioning and Procedures, Volumes 1–2 (Elsevier) — the standard positioning reference; students use it constantly in lab.
• Bontrager's Textbook of Radiographic Positioning and Related Anatomy (Elsevier) — the common alternative; its pocket handbook is widely carried into clinical.
• Positioning pocket guide — small enough for a scrub pocket; nearly every working technologist has one.
• Energized laboratory — radiographic tube, table, upright bucky, control console, and digital receptors.
• Phantoms — skull, spine, pelvis, and chest phantoms for exposure practice.
• Lead markers and dosimeter — usually purchased or issued; markers are a competency requirement, not an accessory.
• ARRT — the Radiography clinical competency requirements, which the lab competencies are built to feed.
• Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Radiation Control — state licensure requirements and lab operating rules.

Career Pathways

• Radiologic Technologist (SOC 29-2034) — the credential this coursework builds toward, via ARRT certification and Florida licensure.
• Hospital and outpatient imaging — the Florida systems hiring continuously: AdventHealth, Orlando Health, BayCare, HCA Florida, Baptist Health.
• Surgical and mobile radiographer — where trauma positioning adaptation is the daily skill.
• Advanced modality technologist — CT, MRI, mammography, or interventional, via ARRT post-primary certification.
• Clinical instructor — teaching in the same laboratory, with experience and often a bachelor's degree.

Special Information

⚠ An `L` course is small in credits and large in hours — in the opposite direction

Florida health-program laboratory courses run at roughly two contact hours per credit, not one. Broward College's radiography table is consistent about it: RTE1513 is 3 credits / 48 hours of lecture, while RTE1513L is 1 credit / 32 hours of laboratory. The same ratio holds across RTE1111L, RTE1418L, RTE1503L, RTE1523L, and RTE2112L, all 1 credit at 32 hours.

The practical point for a student building a schedule: a 1-credit lab occupies a two- or three-hour block, is often scheduled at an inconvenient time because the energized lab must be shared, and carries attendance requirements stricter than lecture. It is small on the transcript and large on the calendar. This is the mirror image of the combined clinical courses — where a 4- or 5-credit C course conceals 160 to 200 hours — and both come from the same rule: in Florida health programs, count contact hours, not credits.

It is a corequisite, and failing it fails the pair

The lab must normally be taken with its lecture course, and in most programs a failing grade in either requires repeating both — which, in a cohort-based sequential program, means waiting a full year for the sequence to come around again. Students should treat the checkoffs as the highest-priority work of the term.

Competencies are demonstrated, not described

Assessment is by performance checkoff against a standard: position correctly, set factors, protect the patient, produce an image that meets diagnostic criteria, and critique it. Studying the atlas is necessary but not sufficient — the skill is psychomotor and improves only with repetition. Programs generally provide open lab time; the students who use it are the ones who pass checkoffs on the first attempt.

Skull positioning is where most students struggle

Cranial and facial projections depend on precise relationships between positioning lines and the central ray, and small angular errors produce clearly non-diagnostic images. If a program covers the skull in this course, expect it to take disproportionate practice time, and start early rather than in checkoff week.

Florida requires state licensure in addition to ARRT certification

Practicing in Florida requires a Florida Department of Health certification issued by the Bureau of Radiation Control, separate from and in addition to ARRT registration. Both are required and they renew on different schedules. Students should also confirm their program is JRCERT-accredited, since ARRT eligibility depends on completing a recognized program.

Numbering varies

Institutions distribute positioning content across Procedures I, II, and III differently, so RTE1513L at one college may cover material that RTE1523L covers at another. SCNS equivalency applies to the same number at the same level, never across numbers. Radiography programs are cohort-based, sequential, and limited-access, so mid-program transfer is rarely practical regardless of how the numbers align.