Which is better radiology or physiotherapy?
Radiology and Physiology are both health professions that are essential to the healthcare provision sector. Radiologist have a somewhat exalted position in diagnostic centers as they are specialists in interpreting medical images such as x-rays, MR’s and CT scan results. They are medical doctors who have undergone special training in Medical imagery in order to become radiologists.
Physiotherapists however, are experts who use Physical methods in order to treat or prevent diseases, manage physical conditions due to age such as arthritis or rheumatism and rehabilitate victims of events which lead to physical impairments such as accidents. Unlike Radiologists, Physiotherapists are not doctors but are health through exercise experts.
Physiotherapy is the treatment of disease, injury, or deformity by physical methods such as massage, heat treatment, and exercise rather than by drugs or surgery. A physiotherapist helps people affected by injury, illness or disability through movement and exercise, manual therapy, education and advice.
They maintain health for people of all ages, helping patients to manage pain and prevent diseases. Note that physiotherapists are not doctors but rather are health and wellbeing advocates via exercise and a range of other treatments.
A Radiologist is a medical doctor with six years basic training whose practice is regulated by the Medical and Dental council of Nigeria, who specializes in analyzing and interpreting the images taken by Radiographers.
To answer the question of which is better, Radiologists have the advantage of being medical doctors who can diagnose, and prescribe drugs to patients without it being necessarily being related to Radiology or Medical imaging. This however becomes a disadvantage when you consider the amount of time used to become a medical doctor before training to become a Radiologist which is roughly 9 years compared to Physiotherapy’s 5 years plus one year of compulsory internship in order to practice.
There is direct access to physiotherapy in Nigeria and patients of both private and public health services are able to refer themselves to a Physiotherapist without going through another health professional.
Physiotherapists have clinical autonomy; they may access their patients, make diagnoses, provide treatment and/or prevention services, and also refer to other health services. Also, physiotherapists are permitted to offer private services to patients as long as they maintain their registration/ licensure. Radiologists do not have this privilege.
A Physiotherapist working in Nigeria averagely earns about 500,000 naira per month. This is the average monthly salary including housing, transport, and other benefits. Salaries range from 278,000 naira to 934,000 naira. Income of Physiotherapists may also be higher because of their ability to offer private services to patients which may sometimes be more expensive than the normal hospital Physiotherapy appointment.
On average, a Radiologist who is just starting out earns about 452,000 per month while an experienced Radiologist earns about 1,450,000 per month. The pay range of a Physiotherapist or Radiologist depends on the kind of job and job descriptions, years of experience in the field and qualification, sometimes the location affects the overall salary. Also for Physiotherapists, the salary or income may also depend on whether he/she takes on private patients as aforementioned.
Olayinka Shyllon
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