December Medical Imaging Graduates Achieve Perfect Pass Rate on National Certification Exam

Every member of Misericordia University's December 2021 Medical Imaging program's graduating class passed the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) national certification examination in radiography. This achievement continues the program's decades-long tradition of a higher than national average pass rate on the exam. This year's class achieved a 100% pass rate. 

"This was a great group of students. They worked well with each other and became like a family. They are all either employed full-time or are going on to graduate school," said Paula Pate-Schloder, MS, RT, medical imaging department chairperson and associate professor. 

Many of the graduates will begin their careers at local hospitals. One graduate, Ashlee Blannett of Wyoming, accepted a full-time position at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization department in Tennessee. Another, Rebecca Witmer is working full-time in computed tomography at Hershey Medical Center. 

Pictured are the members of the December 2011 medical imaging class. front row from left: Sarah Mihalka, Pittston Twp., PA; Kaitlyn Gurnari, Plains, PA; Makayla Franko, Falls, PA. Second row from left: Rebecca Witmer, Valley View, PA and Jessica Ravert, Hunlock Creek, PA. Third row from left: Shauna Aiena, Toms River, NJ and Makalie Blazick, Shavertown, PA. Fourth row from left: Andrew Taylor, Bloomsburg, PA; Carlos Torres-Teran, Mountaintop, PA; Brandon Kessler, Nanticoke, PA and Ashlee Blannett, Wyoming, PA.

Accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology, the Misericordia University Medical Imaging program is the only Bachelor of Science-level medical imaging program in northeastern Pennsylvania and one of only two in the state. The program features five full-time faculty members with more than 90 years of combined professional and academic experience who are also cross trained in multiple modalities.

The program also has strong relationships with 29 clinical sites in the region, some of which have been with the program since its inception in 1973. This relationship affords Misericordia students valuable clinical internships at prestigious facilities that provide real-world experience.

Medical imaging students at Misericordia concentrate on radiography until their senior year. During their fourth year, students participate in an internship that affords them clinical education experience in advanced imaging modalities. A career in medical imaging offers numerous opportunities due to the myriad of specialty fields. A medical imaging major, for example, can specialize in radiography, magnetic resonance imaging, mammography, and computed tomography, to name a few. There also are opportunities in education, management, and sales in the imaging sciences.