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Echo technician vs radiologic technician

The differences between echo technicians and radiologic technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an echo technician and a radiologic technician. Additionally, an echo technician has an average salary of $75,952, which is higher than the $50,622 average annual salary of a radiologic technician.

The top three skills for an echo technician include patients, BLS and echocardiography. The most important skills for a radiologic technician are patients, ARRT, and radiologic technologist.

Echo technician vs radiologic technician overview

Echo TechnicianRadiologic Technician
Yearly salary$75,952$50,622
Hourly rate$36.52$24.34
Growth rate10%6%
Number of jobs14,52258,797
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 54%Associate Degree, 69%
Average age4543
Years of experience22

What does an echo technician do?

An echo technician is responsible for operating specialized equipment to develop ultrasound images of patients' hearts, diagnosing possible illnesses, and monitoring their conditions. Echo technicians carefully explain the process to the patients, assist the physicians in data interpretation, and ensuring that the image document was stored and developed properly for reference. They also inspect the machine and equipment's efficiency for operations and immediately call for repairs for any defects and malfunctions that may cause inaccuracies in the results.

What does a radiologic technician do?

A radiologic technician is responsible for testing and treating patients with radiology machines under the assistance of a radiologist. Duties of a radiologic technician include performing radiology procedures, monitoring the equipment's safety and stability, assisting the patients with the guidelines, detecting and resolving possible system malfunctions, and preventing excessive radiation exposure. A radiologic technician must have excellent technical skills and excellent knowledge of the medical industry to support the patients and provide additional assistance.

Echo technician vs radiologic technician salary

Echo technicians and radiologic technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Echo TechnicianRadiologic Technician
Average salary$75,952$50,622
Salary rangeBetween $49,000 And $117,000Between $32,000 And $79,000
Highest paying CitySpringfield, ORSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyUniversity of Maryland Medical SystemTALENT Software Services
Best paying industryHealth CareHealth Care

Differences between echo technician and radiologic technician education

There are a few differences between an echo technician and a radiologic technician in terms of educational background:

Echo TechnicianRadiologic Technician
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 54%Associate Degree, 69%
Most common majorMedical TechnicianMedical Technician
Most common collegeDuke UniversityTexas A&M University

Echo technician vs radiologic technician demographics

Here are the differences between echo technicians' and radiologic technicians' demographics:

Echo TechnicianRadiologic Technician
Average age4543
Gender ratioMale, 32.4% Female, 67.6%Male, 33.9% Female, 66.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 3.3% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 13.9% White, 58.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 9.9% White, 58.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage8%10%

Differences between echo technician and radiologic technician duties and responsibilities

Echo technician example responsibilities.

  • Assist with placement and manage intra-aortic balloon pumps.
  • Perform cardiac defibrillation, CPR, and initiate invasive procedures on patients in cardiac arrest.
  • Utilize 2D , 3D, m-mode, and color Doppler.
  • Perform EKG's and treadmill stress testing.
  • Perform stress echo's, dobutamine stress echo's and bubble studies.
  • Assist physician with echo stress tests as well as treadmill only studies.
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Radiologic technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage imaging databases and relate processes including image file compression and EMR implementations.
  • Accomplish surgical studies utilizing a portable c-arm digital fluoroscopic machine under the direction of a physician.
  • Perform general radiography, fluoroscopy, compute tomography and work in the operating room.
  • Handle both inpatients and outpatients of all ages.
  • Have worked with traditional x-ray systems as well as DR and CR.
  • Attend yearly CPR re-certification classes in addition to maintaining continuing education points for ARRT and IEMA.
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Echo technician vs radiologic technician skills

Common echo technician skills
  • Patients, 19%
  • BLS, 10%
  • Echocardiography, 10%
  • Echocardiogram, 9%
  • Patient Care, 8%
  • Cardiology, 6%
Common radiologic technician skills
  • Patients, 24%
  • ARRT, 11%
  • Radiologic Technologist, 7%
  • CPR, 5%
  • Pacs, 4%
  • ALARA, 2%

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