Cardiovascular Technologist Salary

What is the salary for cardiovascular technologists?

Since cardiovascular technology is considered a “critical care” area, the salary is high compared to other medical technical professions. Oftentimes hospitals have a pay jump when you work in a critical care area like the emergency department or intensive care unit. The pay range varies based on geographic location and hospital size but typically starts around $20-25 per hour.

What personality traits or skills that would make someone a good fit for this profession?

This field requires someone who is confident and not afraid to work in life and death situations to take care of critically sick patients. Cardiovascular Technologist Salary

Working closely with cardiologists can be intimidating so being sure of one’s self and having a thick skin are essential traits.

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What kinds of advancement opportunities exist in this field?

Cardiovascular technologists can work their way up to the manager or director of a department. As mentioned before, they can further their schooling to become a physician or other medical professional. They are able to move to “industry” and sell medical equipment, which can pay a very lucrative salary. There are also travel agencies who hire contractual CVTs for a certain length of time when there are shortages at hospitals. Some agencies hire CVTs for three-month stints. These opportunities can pay very well.

What are the advantages of a job in this field?

Working on hearts is a very exciting, prestigious field. Obviously, heart function is essential to sustain life. There is great satisfaction in this field when people who are sick are given interventions that lead to immediate relief and reversal of symptoms. Cardiovascular technologists also utilize amazing technology and equipment.

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What different employment settings exist for cardiovascular technologists?

Cardiovascular technologists mainly work in hospital settings, performing procedures with cardiologists in invasive cardiovascular laboratories (commonly called cath labs). Typically cardiovascular procedures are not portable and remain in the cath lab because of the x-ray equipment used. There are varying sizes of hospitals including community hospitals and teaching institutions with medical programs. Some smaller community hospitals only perform coronary interventions but not cardiovascular surgery. Other smaller hospitals do not have the support structure in place for a cardiovascular program and therefore do not have a cath lab.

What are the hours like in this field?

This profession typically involves 10-hour daytime shifts since this is when the cath lab is open for those individuals having elective procedures and surgeries. A common shift begins between at 7am and goes until 5:30pm. Some hospitals offer 12 or 8-hour shift options as well. Like many jobs in health care that deal with emergency situations, the job of a cardiovascular technologist involves being a part of “on call” rotations for nights and weekends. There are also part time work opportunities in this field.