Travel imaging assignments suit technologists who like variety, from portables to trauma to fluoroscopy. Here is what the work is really like, what facilities expect, what it tends to pay, and how to land your first contract.
You usually sign a 13-week contract, most often three 12-hour or four 10-hour shifts a week, performing diagnostic imaging in a hospital, emergency department or outpatient center that is short a technologist. Expect a short orientation to the equipment and PACS, then a full workload quickly.
Hospital contracts mix portable exams, emergency department work and fluoroscopy, sometimes with OR C-arm support. Outpatient centers are steadier and scheduled. Ask what share of your shift is portable work and whether you will be the only technologist on nights.
Most facilities want ARRT (R) certification and one to two years of recent, independent experience. BLS is standard. Facilities also run license verification, background checks and health clearance, so having your records organized speeds up your start date. Added credentials like CT or mammography widen your options.
Describe your experience precisely: trauma, portable, fluoroscopy, pediatrics and OR work are different skill sets, and a skills checklist that overstates your range shows in the first week.
Travel radiologic technologist packages commonly range from roughly $1,900 to $3,300 gross per week, with many contracts landing around $2,200 to $2,500. High-cost markets, nights, trauma centers and short-notice starts pay above that. Compare the taxable versus stipend split, not only the headline figure.
Our guide to how a weekly travel package is built explains the pieces, and the same structure applies to imaging.
Imaging departments across the country report trouble filling technologist shifts, and emergency imaging and outpatient screening volume keeps climbing. That is why facilities bring in contract technologists for open positions, nights and weekends. Demand tends to be strongest where a department also needs CT or MRI coverage.
Range gets you placed faster. Technologists who handle portable and trauma exams, fluoroscopy, pediatric patients and OR C-arm work, and who have used more than one PACS or digital radiography system, have the widest choice of contracts. A second modality opens even more doors.
Tell a recruiter what you have actually performed: exams, systems, acuity and how independently you worked. Keep your certifications and immunization records ready and stay flexible on start date. Browse the specialties overview, see what to ask before accepting an assignment, and visit the full jobs overview.
Most are 13 weeks, with some at 8 or 26 weeks. Facilities often offer extensions if the department is still short and you want to stay.
Most contracts ask for ARRT (R). Some sites also want CT, MR or mammography credentials, so tell your recruiter exactly what you hold.
A second modality widens your choice of contracts and often your pay. Pick the one your current department lets you train in.
Usually a shift or two covering the equipment, PACS and department routines. Ask what orientation looks like before you accept.
No. Placement is free to you. The facility pays our fee.
Two minutes now saves a dozen irrelevant calls later. We only get in touch when something genuinely matches your specialty, your states and the schedule you actually want.
Tell us your exams, systems and the states you will work. We only reach out when a role matches.