The American Society of Radiologic Technologists has launched “The RAD Position,” a monthly podcast hosted by ASRT CEO and Executive Director Melissa B. Pergola, Ed.D., R.T. (R)(M), FASRT, CAE. The podcast features guests from the medical imaging and radiation therapy profession, including members of the ASRT Board of Directors, ASRT staff, medical imaging and radiation therapy experts, and others.

The podcast’s first guest is ASRT President Heather Moore, Ph.D., R.T.(R), who shares her vision for the ASRT, discusses her presidential initiatives and gives advice on how to get involved and take the first step toward volunteering.

“Nearly every person will be touched by a medical imaging or radiation therapy professional throughout the course of their life. I am excited to host this podcast to uplift our medical imaging and radiation therapy community, to talk about the ASRT and how we are working every day for these health care heroes, and to provide information to general listeners about medical imaging and radiation therapy,” said Dr. Pergola.

The American Society of Radiologic Technologists has named Kate Cheney, B.A., R.T.(R)(VI), of St. Paul, Minnesota, as the 2024 Student to Leadership Development Program Alumni of the Year. The ASRT Committee on Fellows selected Cheney as this year's recipient.

Cheney was part of a cohort of more than 60 students who took part in the 2022 ASRT Annual Governance and House of Delegates Meeting in Orlando.

Prior to Cheney’s transition into the radiologic sciences, her background was in education and management. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Bethel University in St. Paul and an associate degree in radiologic technology/science from Rasmussen University in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. As a student, she was the president of the Minnesota Association of Radiology Students. She is certified in radiography and vascular interventional with the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.

Cheney has been an active member of the Minnesota Society of Radiologic Technologists and serves as chair of the board and delegate. She led efforts that resulted in MSRT’s acceptance into the ASRT Affiliate Development Program and has been instrumental in strengthening the affiliate society’s advocacy initiatives. Under her leadership, MSRT has secured an author for its licensure bill and hosted a highly successful Rad Tech Capitol Day in the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul with nearly 200 attendees.

Nationally, Cheney is chair for the ASRT Committee on Bylaws and is a participant in the 2024-2025 ASRT Leadership Academy and the ASRT Advocacy Training Program, formerly known as the Online Advocacy Academy. In the 2025 ASRT election, she was elected to serve as delegate in 2026, and vice chair and delegate in 2027 for the ASRT Cardiac Interventional and Vascular Interventional Chapter. Cheney is also a member of the House of Delegates Minutes Approval Committee and a former member of the Ambassadors for R.T. Advocacy program. She was selected as one of 50 recipients to receive the ASRT Foundation’s 2023-24 Education and Professional Growth Scholarship, which is funded by the ARRT. In addition, she published an article in ASRT Scanner titled, “Fresh Perspective: Empowering Emerging Leaders in Radiologic Technology.”

Cheney is an interventional radiology technologist at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

The American Society of Radiologic Technologists has become a founding member of the American Red Cross Ready 365 Giving Circle program to support individuals and families who are faced with life altering events nationally and regionally.

In the past, ASRT donated to the Red Cross during times of need to support people, including ASRT members, who were affected by national disasters. As a member of the Ready 365 Giving Circle, ASRT pledges to provide annual monetary support to enable the Red Cross to perform its scope of work, whether it is disaster response, supplying critical blood and platelet donations, providing food and relief supplies or other resources to local emergency shelters, or assisting veterans and military families in need.

“At ASRT, our mission is to advance and elevate the medical imaging and radiation therapy profession while enhancing the quality and safety of patient care. Supporting the American Red Cross through the Ready 365 Giving Circle reflects our broader commitment to care, compassion and community,” said ASRT CEO and Executive Director Melissa B. Pergola, Ed.D., R.T.(R)(M), FASRT, CAE. “By joining as a founding member, we are helping to ensure that individuals and families facing life-altering events — whether locally or nationally — receive the critical support they need when it matters most.”

According to the Red Cross website, Ready 365 Giving Circle members value the local impact and global reach of the Red Cross and are ready to help save lives every day of the year.

ASRT has been recognized by the Albuquerque Journal as one of the Top Workplaces in New Mexico for 2025.

ASRT, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was recognized as a 2025 Top Workplace in the 35-150 employee category. ASRT staff completed a confidential employee engagement survey from an independent research company in January 2025. The survey measured various drivers of engaged work cultures that are critical to the success of any organization, including culture, environment and benefits/compensation.

“This award is truly a reflection of our incredible staff as their dedication, teamwork and passion are what make this such a special place,” said ASRT CEO and Executive Director Melissa B. Pergola, Ed.D., R.T.(R)(M), FASRT, CAE. “I’m so proud of the positive, supportive culture we’ve built together. This recognition simply confirms what we already know, which is that ASRT is a great place to work because of the amazing people who work here.”

The ASRT updates and revises its curricula on a five-year cycle, and the adoption process for the current radiologist assistant curriculum was completed in 2026. The current curriculum can be reviewed here.

Historical radiologist assistant curricula also are available for review.

The ASRT is seeking qualified members interested in volunteer positions on the Committee on Fellows, Committee on Nominations and Practice Standards Council.

The duties, qualifications and time commitments required for these openings are available at the links provided below:

Please contact ASRT Volunteer Services at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.

To see all current positions available, visit the Open Volunteer Opportunities page.

The overall average salary of a radiologic technologist nationwide rose by 12.3% since 2022 and now averages $86,484, according to results from the American Society of Radiologic Technologists Wage and Salary Survey 2024.

The survey, conducted in August 2024, shows that all major disciplines in medical imaging and radiation therapy saw average annual increases since 2022, with some areas showing greater gains than others.

“This year’s survey shows consistent gains across all major disciplines as compared to the 2022 wage and salary survey,” said Melissa Culp, M.Ed., R.T.(R)(MR), ASRT executive vice president of member engagement. “ASRT will continue to monitor salaries in the medical imaging and radiation therapy profession to ensure that radiologic technologists, managers and decision makers have current data to make informed decisions.”

Among major disciplines, nuclear medicine technologists experienced the largest average gains at 20.2%, from a $88,576 average annual salary in 2022 to $106,475 in 2024. Vascular interventional followed with a 13.6% increase, moving from $83,934 to $95,317. Sonographers saw a 13.2% increase from $82,368 to $93,237. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists saw their pay increase by 12.5% from $82,395 to $92,729. Computed tomography and radiography each experienced a 12.3% increase from $78,159 to $87,785 and $65,246 to $73,274, respectively. Mammographers experienced an 11.5% increase from $79,323 to $88,468.

In addition, cardiac interventional technologists saw salaries increase by 10.4% and radiation therapists experienced a 7.2% increase.

The disciplines with the highest reported mean compensation were medical dosimetry at $136,510, radiologist assistant at $126,428 and radiation therapy at $106,425.

Compensation also varies by region. On average, R.T.s working in California have the highest annual compensation at $125,843, followed by technologists in Delaware at $106,676. Technologists in Nebraska earned the lowest base annual compensation at $61,924.

“In the past, we conducted the wage and salary survey every three years,” said John Culbertson, M.Ed., M.A., ASRT director of research. “However, with rising inflation and the high vacancy rates, we decided to conduct the survey at the two-year mark to ensure that ASRT members have the most up-to-date compensation statistics.”

The ASRT sent the Radiologic Technologist Wage and Salary Survey to 359,399 email addresses in the ASRT database. At the survey’s close, a total of 19,687 questionnaires were completed. Of the total, 18,158 radiologic technologists indicated that they were currently employed in the radiologic sciences. This sample size yields a ±0.73% margin of error at its widest for overall percentages at the 95% confidence level.

Since 2001, the ASRT has conducted the Wage and Salary Survey of radiologic technologists with the primary objective to measure income, benefits, satisfaction and other compensation-related metrics.

The future of radiation therapy practice lies in maximizing the potential of radiation therapists and leveraging their expertise to the level of advanced practice, according to an original report published in the American Society of Radiation Oncology journal, Practical Radiation Oncology.

Current radiation therapy workforce challenges, strategies to boost recruitment activities and recommendations to build the advanced practice radiation therapist career pathway are also highlighted in the original report, titled “The Current and Future State of Radiation Therapy Practice — An Analysis of the Professional Workforce Survey.”

The report’s authors developed the strategies and recommendations from the findings highlighted in the 2023 Professional Workforce Survey, prepared by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists and American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. The survey gathered data about the future practices of radiation therapists, while highlighting the evolving role of radiation therapists amid staffing constraints and advancements in radiation oncology technologies.

Understanding that additional work is necessary to develop a comprehensive plan for career pathways and professional advancements for radiation therapists, the authors recommended gathering additional research and developing resources to establish evidence-based models that leverage radiation therapists’ expertise to elevate them to advance practice roles.

The original report’s authors are Shaun Caldwell, Ed.D., R.T.(R)(T), John Culbertson, M.A., M.Ed., Melissa Culp, M.Ed., R.T.(R)(MR), Sheryl Green, MBBCh, Sandra Hayden, M.A., R.T.(T), Jason Paisley, M.S., DABR, Samantha Skubish, M.S., R.T.(R)(T) and Nora Uricchio, M.Ed., R.T.(R)(T).

U.S. Sens. Boozman, R-AR, and Luján, D-NM, have introduced the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act, or MARCA, in the U.S. Senate.

MARCA will help improve access to radiology care by ensuring radiologists receive Medicare reimbursement for services provided by radiologist assistants, supervised by a radiologist as part of a radiologist-led team. Reimbursement will occur regardless of the setting in which the radiology service is provided — a hospital, critical access hospital, ambulatory surgical center or other health care setting.

“MARCA will ensure radiology teams can fully utilize radiologist assistants to deliver high-quality, efficient and cost-effective care. RAs support radiologists by improving workflow and patient access, reducing wait times and reinforcing safety and quality — all while operating under radiologist supervision as part of a radiologist-led team,” said ASRT CEO and Executive Director Melissa B. Pergola, Ed.D., R.T.(R)(M), FASRT, CAE.

Along with the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, the American College of Radiology, American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and Society of Radiology Physician Extenders are working to pass this legislation.

An RA is a certified radiographer who has completed advanced education, clinical experience and certification to expertly and safely perform radiologic assessments and certain procedures that traditionally were performed only by radiologists.

Visit the ASRT Advocacy Action Center to contact your federal lawmakers.

The next episode of ASRT’s podcast, “The RAD Position,” airs on Sept. 16, and features ASRT member, actor and producer Michael John Benzaia, M.B.A., R.T.(R)(CT).

Benzaia is one of the faces of ASRT’s Be Seen campaign, an initiative to raise the visibility of medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals.

Benzaia talks about why he became a radiologic technologist, his transition into acting and starring in the Be Seen commercial, which aired on NBC and USA Network during the U.S. Olympic trials and during NBCUniversal primetime programs. “This campaign has just been really fun to be involved with, and I see the tangible difference that we’re making real time,” said Benzaia.

“The Rad Position” is a monthly podcast hosted by ASRT CEO and Executive Director Melissa B. Pergola, Ed.D., R.T.(R)(M), FASRT, CAE, and is available on Spotify, Apple and other streaming platforms. It features guests from the medical imaging and radiation therapy profession, including members of the ASRT Board of Directors, ASRT staff, medical imaging and radiation therapy experts, and others.

Visit the website to share how you discovered the profession. If you are a patient, tell us about your interactions with medical imaging and radiation therapy heroes. Your story may be featured on an upcoming episode. Archived episodes with transcripts are available at this link.