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By Cynthia M. Piccolo (Career Questions)
dearCPRrtOrSurgTech image

Dear Cindy: 

I am writing because I am about to make a very important decision in my life and need some advice.

I am currently a student with an Associate degree in general studies, and I have been applying to enter a career program as a radiology tech, but I have not been accepted for it because of the large amount of people applying for this program. I have applied for this program three times already and never been accepted for it.

So this last year, I decided to apply in different fields. I applied to the respiratory therapy and surgical technology programs and was accepted for both of them. Neither is the career that I always thought of, but I know that I want a profession in the medical field.

So now it is my time to chose which one is better for me, because I have decided to stop waiting for the radiology program and because I am getting old and can't continue waiting year after year. I know that a respiratory therapist position would pay better than a surgical tech position, but at this stage in my life I am more concerned about which career would give me better working conditions, such as having more time to spend with my family and not having to work very long hours, weekends, and holidays very often. I am also concerned about how fast I would be able to start working once I finish the program. The respiratory program is two years long and the surgical tech program is 14 months long.

I am really in a bind right now. Which one would you pick and why?

Sincerely,

Choices

Dear Choices: 

Base your decision on what you want, and factors pertinent to both careers, now and in the future:

Work

Your first choice, radiography, provides you with a good amount of "live" patient (and family) contact, and this is something you'll also find in respiratory therapy, but not in surgical technology.

If one of the draws of medical imaging is a love of equipment and technology, the "machinery fix" will also be found in respiratory therapy, not in surgical technology.

There's more variety open to respiratory therapists than surgical techs. A surgical tech may get the chance to work on a variety of OR cases in hospitals or outpatient surgical centers, but a respiratory therapist can work in a wider range of settings. These include both clinical (e.g. critical care, anesthesia, pulmonary function testing, wards, long-term care/skilled nursing, home care) and non-clinical (e.g. respiratory equipment/product sales, pharmaceutical sales). Respiratory therapists can also take further training to work in areas such as sleep studies or perfusion.

Also, a respiratory therapist has more "power," or autonomy in practice, whereas surgical techs work under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, and/or other surgical personnel.

Time

The surgical tech program into which you've been accepted may be shorter than the respiratory therapy program, but in the grand scheme of things, both are short.

And the field of surgical technology won't necessarily liberate a person from holiday work – after all, a surgical tech may have to take call. Nor does respiratory therapy condemn a person to shifts and holiday work, particularly if s/he works in home care or sales.

Employment Future

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says that, in both fields, employment is expected to increase "faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2012." The BLS also says that while hospitals will be the primary employer of surgical techs, faster growth is expected in offices of physicians and in outpatient care and ambulatory surgical centers.

Money

And as for salaries, the BLS reports that the median salary in 2002 for respiratory therapists in hospitals was $40,390, and for respiratory therapists in general was $40,220. Meanwhile, the median salary in 2002 for surgical techs was $33,790 for those employed in the offices of physicians, and $30,590 for those employed in hospitals. That's a significant difference in income, especially when one has a family, like you do.

So all things considered, I'd pick respiratory therapy. But it's your choice, not mine.
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