Description of Occupation
An invasive cardiovascular technologist, or cardiology technologist, is a highly specialized and knowledgeable health care professional who is educated and trained to perform diagnostic procedures at the request of the physician to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients with cardiac disease.

The cardiology technologist assists the physician with invasive procedures in which a small tube, or catheter, is wound through a patient’s blood vessel from a spot on the leg into the heart. This is done to determine if a blockage exists and for other diagnostic purposes. RCIS is the credential held by a nationally registered cardiology technologist.

The cardiology technologist requires specialized technical skills, critical thinking and problem solving ability, and medical knowledge including anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology to render quality patient care; must be able to correlate related patient data, apply physics principles in order to obtain optimal images for rendering a diagnosis, and develop differential diagnoses based on patient history and examination findings.

Places of Employment and Outlook
Invasive Cardiovascular Technology – Very good. Hospital cardiac catheterization laboratory

Salary Ranges for Geographical Area
$54,449 median salary in Lancaster (zip 17602) from www.salary.com April 2009 for Cardiac Catheterization Technologist.

Educational Advancement
The program is designed to lead directly to an occupation and is not intended for transfer. General education courses may be transferable to a four-year institution. Franklin University offers a BS in Healthcare Management. Immaculata University offers an accelerated BA in Health Care Management (classes in accelerated format and held at HACC's Lancaster Campus).

Related Websites For Additional Information About The Career
Career Infonet with salary and job outlook statistics, career video and licensing requirements
American Medical Association's Health Professions Career and Education Directory
Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals (Select Careers at the top of the page)
Society of Invasive Cardiovascular Professionals