Radiology vs Radiography: Difference and Comparison

Radiology and radiography can be considered as two sides of the same coin because both are quite interrelated.

Radiology can’t be done, and radiography is useless, but what do these terms mean?

Is the professional who does those CT scans, X-rays, or MRIs a radiologist or radiographer?

Key Takeaways

1. Radiology is a medical speciality that uses imaging techniques to diagnose and treat diseases, while radiography is a type of imaging technique that uses X-rays to produce body images.
2. Radiology includes other imaging techniques such as ultrasound, MRI, and CT scans, while radiography is limited to X-ray imaging.
3. While both are important for medical diagnosis and treatment, radiology offers a more comprehensive approach to imaging. It is often used for more complex cases, while radiography is more commonly used for routine imaging procedures.

Radiology vs Radiography

Radiology is a medical specialty that diagnoses and treats diseases using imaging technologies such as X-rays, ultrasonography, CT scans, and MRIs. Radiography is a type of diagnostic imaging that employs X-rays to create images of the body in order to detect and diagnose medical disorders. Radiography is a subfield of radiology.

Radiologists are professional doctors who are experts in radiology, while radiographers are allied health care professionals who are experts in radiography. Attending a medical school is compulsory to become a radiologist, which is not required to become a radiographer; you need a bachelor’s degree in radiography and can opt for higher education too. Radiologists make more money than radiographers. Also, to become a radiologist, you’ll have to study much more than become a radiographer.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Radiology	Radiography
Definition	Radiology is the branch of medicine in which the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in humans and animals are made by radioactive technology, ultrasound, or electromagnetic radiation.	Radiography is the method of producing images of an organism’s internal tissues and organs using electromagnetic waves like gamma rays or X-rays.
Medical School	You will have to attend medical school to become a professional radiologist.	You need not attend medical school to become a radiographer. You need a bachelor’s degree after high school.
Study duration	One will have to study longer (as the course is vast) to become a radiologist than one who wants to become a radiographer.	To become a radiographer, one must study for a lesser duration than one aspiring to become a radiologist.
How to specialize?	To become a radiologist, one must attend medical school after college and specialize in radiology.	To become a radiographer, you must pursue a university radiography course after high school.
Professionals	The professionals in the radiology field are known as radiologists, and they are medical specialists and fully licensed physicians.	The professionals of the radiography field are known as radiographers or radiologic technicians and are allied healthcare care professionals.
Salary	Just like any other physician, radiologists have high salaries.	Radiographers also get good salaries but less than that radiologists.

What is Radiology?

Radiology is a branch of science dealing with diagnosing and detecting disease based on images produced by radiographic technology.

A radiologist is a fully licensed physician who is a radiology expert. One must attend med school after high school and then specialize in radiology to become a radiologist.

Radiologists do not do the imaging work which radiographers do. They only examine the images and diagnose and treat the disease if it happens to be.

Radiologists, after pursuing higher studies, can even become interventional radiologists.

What is Radiography?

Radiography is a technology in which images of the internal structures of an organism’s body are scanned using ultrasound or electromagnetic radiations like X-rays or gamma rays, etc.

Medical radiography and industrial radiography are the two types of radiography.

The body scanners and the detectors at security checking are also based on radiographic technology. 

A radiographer, also known as a radiologic technician, is an allied healthcare care professional who imagines internal organs using machines like CT scans, MRIs, X-rays, etc.

The images are then sent to the radiologists to diagnose and treat the underlying disease, if any.

Main Differences Between Radiology and Radiography

1. The professionals who specialise in radiography are known as radiographists, radiologic technologists, or radiologic technicians, while those who specialize in radiology are known as radiologists. 
2. A radiographist does all the imaging work through ultrasound or electromagnetic radiation, while the primary function of a radiologist is to examine and interpret the images and treat the patient accordingly. A radiologist doesn’t generally do imaging work.
3. Attending medical school is compulsory to become a radiologist, but it is not required if you want to become a radiographist.
4. To become a radiologist, one must attend med school after college and specialize in radiology. To become a radiographer, one has to take a bachelor’s degree from a university after high school. He/she may even opt for higher degrees to become an expert in this field.
5. Radiologists are qualified doctors or fully licensed physicians, while radiographers are allied healthcare professionals, not doctors.

References

1. https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/Content/3786/14a-soz.pdf
2. https://jdmfs.org/index.php/jdmfs/article/view/6
3. http://www.mys1cloud.com/cct/ebooks/978039804669.pdf