Technology Careers in Healthcare
Do you love technology? And are you also fascinated by medicine? If you are as passionate about technology as you are about healthcare, there are many careers in the medical field that combine these two aspects. Granted, technology and medicine do overlap quite a bit in most healthcare professions. However, this list of healthcare careers are particularly reliant, and/or involved in the field of technology.
Medical Lab Careers
A variety of healthcare careers are available in a medical laboratory setting, and these jobs are largely technical in nature. They often involve very little, if any, interaction with patients, and involve operating lab equipment such as a centrifuge, a microscope, and others.
Medical lab careers are great options if you want a career that has a great impact on patient care, without the patient interaction. Medical lab professionals are the ones who do much of the tests which determine patients’ diagnoses.
Ultrasound Technician
An ultrasound tech, also known as a diagnostic sonographer, operates the ultrasound machine to view various internal organs. Many patients are most familiar with sonograms from prenatal visits, an ultrasound is used to gauge the development of the unborn fetus. However, ultrasound technology is utilized for diagnosing a wide variety of medical conditions in addition to its role in prenatal care.
Radiologist
A radiologist is a physician who specializes in reading digital images of patients taken by various scanning machines, to determine a patient’s diagnosis. Radiologists diagnose cancers, bone breaks or fractures, heart problems, brain conditions, tumors, and just about any other issue that is large enough to be seen with a human eye via an electronic or digital image.
Radiologists are one of the few types of physicians who do not interact much, if at all, with patients. Typically a radiologist will communicate his or her findings directly to the physician who ordered the scan, such as a primary care doctor, orthopedic surgeon, or oncologist, for example.
Radiologists are among the highest paid physicians as well and have the added benefit of being able to work remotely via teleradiology technology since almost all images are now produced digitally instead of on analog film of yesteryear.
Healthcare IT
If you are interested in computer technology, then a career in health information technology (healthcare IT), or healthcare information management (HIM) may be an ideal career path for you. Since the passage of the HITECH Act, the field of healthcare IT has grown rapidly due to the increasing demand for electronic medical records (EMR) and EHR (electronic health records).
There are a variety of positions needed in healthcare IT, from database administrators to systems management, training, and implementation specialists, and network administrators, just to name a few.
Cardiovascular Tech
A cardiovascular technologist, or CVT, works in the cardiac cath lab to help conduct catheterizations of the arteries in patients experiencing potential heart disease or blockages. These catheterizations facilitate both the viewing and diagnosis of the heart problem, as well as the repair of the issue, in some cases, depending on the severity and nature of the cardiovascular issue.
Radiology Tech
Radiology technicians, or “rad techs” operate the various pieces of imaging equipment that are used to diagnose various injuries and conditions in patients. This includes CT scanning machines, MRIs, and X-ray equipment.
Medical Technologist
A medical technologist is one of many professions found in a medical laboratory setting. They perform a variety of lab tests to look for microorganisms, match blood types for transfusion, check blood levels, and more.