How To Become A Health Physics Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a health physics technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a health physics technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.2 an hour? That's $46,170 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -17% and produce -900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreHealth Physics TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $46,170

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate -17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.06%

Asian 6.57%

Black or African American 9.84%

Hispanic or Latino 15.12%

Unknown 5.97%

White 61.44%

Gender

female 27.56%

male 72.44%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a health physics technician

Explore health physics technician education requirements

Most common health physics technician degrees

Bachelor's

47.8 %

Associate

34.3 %

High School Diploma

8.0 %

Start to develop specific health physics technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Radiation Safety	13.32%
Radioactive Materials	10.31%
Air Samples	8.35%
DOE	5.45%
Radiation Surveys	4.18%

Complete relevant health physics technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New health physics technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a health physics technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real health physics technician resumes.

Research health physics technician duties and responsibilities

Perform TEDE ALARA reviews to determine if respiratory protection would save dose on specific jobs.
Perform air, rod and contamination surveys, RWP surveys and RHR hoop valve cut and drain.
Alloy 600 lead technician responsibilities include reviewing daily surveys, performing ALARA briefs, designating tasks and developing shift schedule.
Develop a comprehensive written respiratory protection program for the NDT to align newly acquire SCBA capability with 29 CFR 1910 requirements.

Prepare your health physics technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your health physics technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a health physics technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable health physics technician resume templates

Build a professional health physics technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your health physics technician resume.