Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert signed House Bill 238 into law this month, making Utah the 29th state to license radiologist assistants. The law, which took effect March 18, passed the state legislature in February.

Radiology assistants are radiologic technologists with extra training (and often an advanced degree) who act as what the American College of Radiology and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists call radiology "extenders," meaning they can't interpret images but can do high-level work, such as administering contrast media or running fluoroscopic exams under a radiologist's supervision.

The law stipulates that the assistants must be certified by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. The ARRT recognizes 12 radiologist assistant educational programs, including ones at Bellevue College in Bellevue, Wash., Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif. and Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn.
The term and the role grew out of a series of meetings between ACR and ASRT in 2002. In 2003, the groups announced a joint statement recognizing the profession, with the hopes that it could meet workforce shortages in diagnostic radiologists and radiologic technologists. According to documents on the ACR's website, the group hoped the lure of an extra, higher rung in a radiologic technologist's career ladder would help draw more people to the profession.

Although the idea has been around since the 1970s, its modern incarnation came about in the 1990s with a program launched by Weber State University, Ogden, UT, for radiology practitioner assistants, a related discipline. RPAs are not recognized by the ACR.

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