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The differences between medical physicists and radiologic technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a medical physicist, becoming a radiologic technician takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a medical physicist has an average salary of $122,845, which is higher than the $50,622 average annual salary of a radiologic technician.
The top three skills for a medical physicist include patients, oncology and radiology. The most important skills for a radiologic technician are patients, ARRT, and radiologic technologist.
| Medical Physicist | Radiologic Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $122,845 | $50,622 |
| Hourly rate | $59.06 | $24.34 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 46,513 | 58,797 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Associate Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 48 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
A Medical Physicist develops and tests new systems to help investigate patients' conditions. They work for hospitals, diagnostic or medical instrumentation manufactures, or universities.
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.
Medical physicists and radiologic technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Physicist | Radiologic Technician | |
| Average salary | $122,845 | $50,622 |
| Salary range | Between $77,000 And $193,000 | Between $32,000 And $79,000 |
| Highest paying City | Rochester, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Saint Luke's Health System | TALENT Software Services |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a medical physicist and a radiologic technician in terms of educational background:
| Medical Physicist | Radiologic Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Associate Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Physics | Medical Technician |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Texas A&M University |
Here are the differences between medical physicists' and radiologic technicians' demographics:
| Medical Physicist | Radiologic Technician | |
| Average age | 48 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 73.4% Female, 26.6% | Male, 33.9% Female, 66.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.9% Unknown, 3.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.4% Asian, 12.8% White, 73.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | 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 Percentage | 24% | 10% |