Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code IRC

Radiologists

Diagnose and treat diseases and injuries using medical imaging techniques, such as x rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine, and ultrasounds. May perform minimally invasive medical procedures and tests.

Also called: Diagnostic Radiologist, Nuclear Medicine Physician, Physician, Radiologist, Attending Physician, Interventional Neuroradiologist, Interventional Radiologist, Musculoskeletal Specialty Radiologist (MSK Specialty Radiologist).

O*NET 29-1224.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $420,860; Middle half earn $216,800 to $506,010. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Post-Doctoral Training; 58% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Prepare comprehensive interpretive reports of findings.
Perform or interpret the outcomes of diagnostic imaging procedures including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), nuclear cardiology treadmill studies, mammography, or ultrasound.
Document the performance, interpretation, or outcomes of all procedures performed.
Communicate examination results or diagnostic information to referring physicians, patients, or families.
Obtain patients' histories from electronic records, patient interviews, dictated reports, or by communicating with referring clinicians.
Review or transmit images and information using picture archiving or communications systems.
Confer with medical professionals regarding image-based diagnoses.
Recognize or treat complications during and after procedures, including blood pressure problems, pain, oversedation, or bleeding.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.3 / 5
Active Listening4.3 / 5
Speaking4.3 / 5
Writing4.1 / 5
Critical Thinking4.1 / 5
Monitoring4.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Medicine and Dentistry4.7 / 5
Biology4.5 / 5
English Language4.3 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.9 / 5
Education and Training3.7 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.6 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic65
Investigative94
Artistic6
Social48
Enterprising19
Conventional58

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

specialised doctor · DE Facharzt/Fachärztin · FR médecin spécialiste
radiographer · DE Röntgentechniker/Röntgentechnikerin · FR technicien en imagerie médicale et radiologie thérapeutique/technicienne en imagerie médicale et radiologie thérapeutique
diagnostic radiographer · DE Medizinisch-technischer Assistent für radiologische Diagnostik/Medizinisch-technische Assistentin für radiologische Diagnostik · FR technicien en imagerie médicale diagnostique/technicienne en imagerie médicale diagnostique
nuclear medicine radiographer · DE Medizinisch-technischer Assistent Nuklearmedizin/Medizinisch-technische Assistentin Nuklearmedizin · FR technologue en médecine nucléaire
therapeutic radiographer · DE Fachassistent Strahlentherapie/Fachassistentin Strahlentherapie · FR technicien en radiothérapie/technicienne en radiothérapie

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Occupational therapists (2222)56,000 employed
Podiatrists (2256)16,200 employed
Specialist medical practitioners and consultants (2212)154,900 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Japan

Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “医師”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥971,300; Middle half earn ¥666,600 to ¥1,338,000 a month.
Workers in the category: 145,170; Regular employees in firms of ten or more.

Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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