There are two types of radiographer:

• Diagnostic radiographer
• Therapeutic radiographer.

Diagnostic Radiographers

Diagnostic radiographers work in the imaging departments of hospitals. They have various ways of taking images (pictures); doctors use these to find out what's wrong inside a patient’s body or to check if everything is OK.

There are many different ways to make images and a radiographer will use the right one for the job. To look to see if someone has broken a bone an X-ray is used. To check a baby is growing properly inside the mother an ultrasound scan is used. To look at muscles a radiographer will use an MRI scan.

Diagnostic radiographers help most departments in a hospital. They can do all the different types of images; they often become specialists in just one type.

Therapeutic Radiographers

Therapeutic radiographers work closely with doctors and nurses to treat people with cancer.

Therapeutic radiographers treat the patient with radiation from extremely complicated and expensive machines. They treat the area where the cancer or tumour is growing and just that bit. They have to be careful not to affect any other part of the patient's body.

Therapeutic radiographers will be involved with the patient from the time they first know they need the treatment until after all their treatment has finished.