Earn a bachelor's degree first before applying to medical school. You must have a bachelor's degree with a majority of your courses being science-related before you can be accepted to medical school.
If you already have a bachelor's degree but it was not in the science field, then you must enroll into a post-baccalaurate premedical program, . Check the American Medical Colleges website to see what colleges offer a post-baccalaurate program.
Prepare to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), which is required for admission into medical school. Plan to take the exam a year before you anticipate applying to medical school since this test is a prerequisite for admission. Be prepared to be tested on your knowledge of physics, chemistry and biology.
Enroll in an accredited medical school. Plan to spend four years in medical school. You will need to get medical school training and be licensed first as a doctor before acquiring advanced training in radiology.
Once you have completed medical school, you will enter into a residency program. A residency, also known as a hospital residency, is a training program that takes between three to seven years to finish. The hospital residency will deal with course work and hands-on training in diagnotic radiology and the physics of medical imaging.
After your residency, you may want to complete a fellowship. A fellowship is additional training to prepare you for a specific specialization. You can specialize in either pediatric radiology, nuclear radiology,neuroradiology, or vascular and interventional radiology. Fellowships are optional and typically take one to three years to complete.
You will be required to be certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Once you complete radiologist training, you will become qualified to be tested for certification.
Be prepared to take two tests as required for certification. The two tests will be administered by the American Board of Radiology. The two exams include one written test and one oral test.