Gives patients small doses of radioactive tracers and uses special cameras to image how their organs work.
You prepare a dose, inject it, and scan the patient with a gamma or PET camera to see heart blood flow or where cancer has spread. You're part chemist, part camera operator, part caregiver.
Associate's degree (2-year), about 2 years after high school. Associate or bachelor's in nuclear medicine technology plus certification.
Ways in: 2-year college, 4-year college, Certification. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Nuclear Medicine Technology, Radiologic Science.
Growing about average (about 2% over 10 years).
Low risk for 10 years. Injecting tracers, running scans and caring for patients stay hands-on as new radioactive drugs grow.
Classes: Chemistry, Anatomy and physiology, Physics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 29-2033.
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