MOTIVATION FOR CHOOSING THE MEDICAL IMAGING TECHNICIAN PROFESSION

Abstract

The paper presents the context and findings of a study focused on motivational factors affecting the choice of the medical imaging technician profession. This profession is important around the globe, and more and more required on the labour market. Still, the supply of imaging technicians is low in many countries, so the waiting time for the tests is unreasonably long. This delays the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses on time and, undoubtedly, harms the public’s basic right for healthcare services. This study assumes that there are motivational factors that affect people’s decision to choose, and therefore learn the medical imaging technician profession. Aiming to understand what are those factors that affect this process of choice, the study focused on the case of Israel. A questionnaire-based survey was administered to 70 medical imaging technicians working in the Israeli healthcare system with the view to examine what has motivated them to choose this profession. The paper presents the empirical results indicating that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are high and have an impact on the process of choice. The findings offer valuable insights that might help improving the supply of imaging technician profession, and the retention of employees in the healthcare system.