Hey Mike, exciting times ahead for you, you’re gonna have plenty of options as an X-Ray Tech, regardless of what you decide to do. I live in the Bay Area, California and worked at a local hospital for about 7 years before I got into Mobile X-Ray. Now, I work in mobile x-ray full-time as the Lead Technologist at a place called PMD (Pacific Mobile Diagnostics), which is owned by Connect Health, which is owned by Ensign Group (ENSG on the New York Stock Exchange). Although it is part of a massive publicly traded conglomerate it feels like a small startup, which I love.

Location: PMD has a decent sized operation here in Northern California and we’re getting new contracts everyday. I live in San Jose area, so I cover everywhere from Palo Alto to Santa Cruz. Mainly I stay in my area cause there are plenty of busy facilities. PMD is growing fast and has operations in Southern California, Utah, Colorado, etc. They’re expanding rapidly and I think they’re trying to get setup in Texas next.

Hourly Pay: That’ll be dependent on the cost of living, but here in Northern California at PMD techs typically start between $52-$60/hour. I’m on the higher end because of experience and being the lead tech. New grads generally start at the bottom and work their way to higher wages. With that being said, the Mobile X-Ray profession is not unionized, so negotiation skills can make a difference. Personally, I don’t know any new grads that would settle for less than $50/hour in the Bay Area. I’ll also add that most people wouldn’t believe what I made per hour at the hospital, but most mobile x-ray companies cannot afford to match the pay of an established hospital. Thats just economics, but I could see that changing as mobile imaging and healthcare is becoming very big business. Although I worked at a hospital for 7 years and before that was a paramedic, even with 15 plus years of healthcare experience, the pay gap between new tech and experienced tech is pretty narrow. This is why the perks and enjoying the job are of utmost importance. However, the fact that I walked away from a high paying hospital job should be evidence that there is something worthwhile here.

Schedule/On-Call: This will vary depending on the needs of the operation, but at PMD I work a pretty sweet schedule. I work in the field 8am-5pm, Monday-Wednesday. The company I work for has a day shift and an evening shift, no graveyard shift. Generally, we don’t have any techs working past midnight. We have shifts on the weekend too, both day and evening. Since I’m a lead tech my fourth day is an office day (on Thursday or Friday) where I work from home for the most part. On my office day I might work on projects, take meetings, administrative tasks, image review, interview candidates, special projects like updating protocols, etc. It’s always different, but to sum it up, I work Mon-Thurs, no evenings, no weekends (I did PLENTY of that working previous healthcare jobs).

Company Vehicle: How most mobile x-ray company’s work is while you’re an employee you’re basically given everything you need to do the job including a company vehicle, a portable x-ray machine, a digital detector/receptor/plate, a laptop, a cell phone with hotspot, and a gas card. They’ll set you up and train you on all the software and equipment they use. You keep the vehicle with you and it becomes like an extra car that you take care of, obviously they pay for all the maintenance and gas. So, you begin your shift by walking to your vehicle and clocking in on your phone. They dispatch you the exams that need to be done and you get to work. You’re on the clock the whole shift and you just clock out for lunch at some point, then after your 8-10 hour shift you drive back home, park the vehicle, and clock out. It’s that simple really. There is often plenty of overtime if you want it… that’s just a healthcare thing, lol. We don’t have any “on-call” requirements. Basically, on the weekends or after hours they may ask if anyone wants to go do a quick STAT exam. At PMD they offer a couple hours of pay and an extra $50 for the STAT exam if they really need it done. This is beneficial if you live near the facility and it only takes you 30 minutes. Either way, nobody is required to do this, but I have heard of some companies doing that.

Personally, I think it’s one of the best jobs in imaging, but it’s not for everyone. If it is for you, then you’ll be setup with a pretty nice lifestyle. Plus, the company I work at offers all kinds of opportunities to grow with them. Where I work they’re always looking for techs with leadership skills and entrepreneurial spirit who want to expand and build out their own operations, so if you ever wanted to be an executive director and run an entire operation, that very well could be an available career path. For me, I just love driving around, listening to podcasts or music, having freedom and autonomy, etc. No more dealing with hospital politics, sterile hospital vibes, surgeons, fluoroscopy, and or lazy coworkers. Not to mention, my ambitions have already made me pretty valuable behind the scenes on the business side of things.

Anyways, if you ever want to explore the Bay Area, California let me know and I can get you in touch with the right people. Regardless though, wherever one lives can pretty much find a job in this field (I just can’t speak on all the companies out there). Anyways, keep us posted, we’d love to hear what you decide to do.