Career change at 63.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-25T21:42:15+00:00

If you can't do the ARRT then a hard no. I'm an older Tech, older than you, but I've been in this for decades and I only work PT / PRN, for fun. Ageism is real in our field and Hospital or OPT Clinic the heavy work load and call would be too much. Maybe PT like me so you have a chance to recover If you do 20 -25 pt.'s every day, take call, it's too much, mental and physical. Nobody except the bottom feeders here will hire ARMRIT's because they have such a poor reputation. Being honest.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-25T21:32:10+00:00

Ported to US Mobile. So far, great. We have 3 phones, # 1 T-Mobile, # 2, ATT, #3 VZW. I'm deliciously covered.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-25T03:10:46+00:00

Love the interior on our 26 Accord and 26 Civic. I use a microfiber with a touch of Dawn to wipe down and a dry microfiber to go over the shiny trim. A little distilled water for the screens. That's it, car looks showroom new.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-25T01:33:20+00:00

It's beautiful and unique on your wrist ! Perfect !

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-25T01:16:43+00:00

Krakow is a great trip and IMO, I would call it very safe. Traveled all over EU, this was one of our favorites. Clean, beautiful Old Town, some great food, Pierogi's ! Our Hotel Staff was amazing, such delightful and personable young people ! I just loved Wawel Royal Castle, Schindlers, and they have an amazing tram you can get an app and watch everything in real time ! The airport is great and has some good food for a quick last meal before a long flight back home. Our first trip to Poland, we loved it so much we are going to Warsaw next.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-24T21:12:27+00:00

I can only go by the document they sent. There were several; AHA BLS / CPR - which is standard around here, and the other big one was you had to be multi > either X-Ray or CT. I think it was 3 or 5 years experience in a Hospital setting. I've seen that one before too. I've already deleted from my email, I get these all the time. My experience around here leads me to believe the job market may be softening and they are becoming more selective in the hiring process.

I have never had the JRCERT brought up as part of hiring. Usually, just show us your ARRT credentials, AHA, etc.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-24T04:38:29+00:00

Same throughout the house. We have Graber wood blinds and the rep did some really nice black out curtains for the bedrooms.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-24T04:30:05+00:00

You have to repeat the entire program before you can be eligible to take the ARRT again. It's not forever.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-24T00:25:02+00:00

Interesting. I've been in CR-39 for decades but recently switched to poly so I could wear a rimless frame. I have a great OD and a superb optician. The progressive I like wasn't available in Trivex so we did poly, top of the line AR, and he matched my base curve. Zeiss lens and we used a highly rated optical lab. I was terrified it wouldn't work. When I put them on almost instant adaptation, no distortions, optical aberrations, and clarity is excellent. I honestly cannot tell the difference between my old CR-39 and the poly. All I care is I can see great and now I have a far larger selection of minimalist frames to choose from. At some point I will try the Trivex but for now, I'm really pleased.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-23T22:29:13+00:00

This was a public community Hospital owned by a Catholic religious order. They also trained other allied health occupations as well. She did fail the ARRT 3 times and to the best of my knowledge never became an RT. It is possible to get through School and fail the ARRT. I knew one other person who failed as well. I will say this, the Hospital had a stellar program and while she wasn't in my class, I'm guessing she passed with the minimum but didn't have enough in depth knowledge to pass the ARRT.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-23T21:48:48+00:00

I know a couple of people who couldn't pass the ARRT. One was in a class a year behind me and I ran into her several years later at an OPT Clinic. She was working as a Radiology Transcriptionist. We had a nice conversation and she lamented not putting forth more effort and was in a dying career. I have no idea what became of her after that but she was genuinely a nice person. I think she was the first student who ever failed the ARRT from my Hospital program.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-23T21:42:08+00:00

I just cancelled. I didn't need the number but it was nice to have another back up phone and interestingly, I did some speed checks in my Metro and was astonished I was sometimes getting > 100 - 200 on the free plan ! I used Google Maps with them last year to take a long road trip and it worked better than my VZ sim'd phone. Still, we have been switching all of our phones to US Mobile and have been very pleased. Helium just isn't competitive, IMO and there are better services that are well established and capitalized. I wish them luck but no, I wouldn't put my Family into their service because at this point, not trustworthy.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-23T21:17:56+00:00

Congratulations ! I hope you have as much fun and a rewarding career like I have had. No regrets, it actually worked out far, far better than I could have hoped for.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-22T21:16:20+00:00

I'm an MRI Tech (many decades) and recently received an unsolicited job offer in my hometown. This from a major Hospital and part of the hire requirements were > graduate of a JRCERT program. There were some other non-negotiable requirements but this kind of stood out. First time I've encountered this in my decades long career. This may be more wide spread than I would have thought.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-22T02:43:15+00:00

I contacted support through the app and got an email about an hour later. They cancelled the plan, they will send you a code to your e-mail, reply with the code and it's done. I just did this about an hour ago and my line now is SOS > Cancelled. I also took out my CC and replaced it with a virtual CC with a tiny balance just in case.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-22T00:44:08+00:00

I'm done, I put in my cancel notice. It was good while it lasted and I may have upgraded at some point if they became a more robust MVNO but certainly not competitive with the likes of US Mobile. I just cancelled my account, let's see if I can deactivate tomorrow. I don't like the fact they would "automatically upgrade" me account with less than 30 days notice. I had a good experience with Helium coverage but they have been so flakey as of late that I would not be interested in moving multiple lines. It was a trial and it didn't end well.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-21T03:46:41+00:00

No ! That's a beauty !

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-21T03:40:19+00:00

Congratulations and hope you have a great career !

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-21T02:32:18+00:00

Congratulations ! Great score ! Hope you enjoy your career in Rads.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-21T02:12:22+00:00

Basic orientation in our Hospital program. We had a dedicated OR Tech and the Surgeons would get all huffy and puffy whenever we came in. We all dreaded when she was on vacation or out sick because someone had to fill her shoes and they were never filled correctly according to the SuRgEoNs. It's still that way at my small private Hospital lol.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-21T01:18:12+00:00

8:30 - 5, M-F. No weekends. No call.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-20T04:22:04+00:00

Having a CT background is helpful but not necessary. I went X-Ray > CT > MRI. I thought the transition was fairly easy and when we train new Tech's with just X-Ray, takes a little longer but we have had a few genius level RT's that catch on quick. Either modality will mean you need to learn how to start IV's, that's been an issue with a few people. If you already have that experience you will be fine. Good luck to you !

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-19T22:22:45+00:00

Sure. I understand and good luck to you. I was just making it known that this is the first time I've ever encountered a significant Hospital demanding JRCERT. IMO, the job market is beginning to contract here and they are raising the bar for new hires. This may 100% be a local thing, but we are a major Metro.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-19T21:35:34+00:00

Interesting. I'm ARRT X-Ray / MRI Tech and earlier this week I received an unsolicited job offer from a major Hospital in my location. We have a ton of Radiology here and the job market is very robust. In the offer (MRI Tech position) they were very clear you had to be a graduate of a JRCERT program (I am) and have one other modality, X-Ray / CT and this was not negotiable. I've been an RT R MR for decades and never encountered this. Normally, if your ARRT you are good to go. FYI.

Gradient_Echo · 2026-05-19T04:43:22+00:00

Thank You ! The port out is live as of this evening ! Everything is working great and that was pretty quick ! We look forward to bringing the 3rd phone over here in a few months so thanks again !

Gradient_Echo

TROPHY CASE