An evaluation of educational requirements to practise radiography in the European Union

Radiography is practised worldwide, however, the definition of the profession vary across countries and since there is no regulation of the profession neither education at EU level, national regulations might result in education differences that can compromise the movement of professionals or the safety of patients. The aim of this study was to identify the commonalities and discrepancies in national regulation of radiography. Methodology: All national competent authorities were invited to identify the legal requirements to practise radiography and the data was analysed using thematic analysis.Results: The profession is regulated in 96% of EU countries, with a single profession in 68% of the cases and separate professions for different specialisms in 18%.All countries define education as requirement to practise, nevertheless, the academic level vary from secondary school (EQF5 and Level 2 of the 2005/36/EC) to Master degree (EQF7 and Level 5) with programmes varying from 2 to 4 years and from 120 to 240 ECTS. The subjects covered in the education programme were the requirement that showed more heterogeneity. These were not identified in 33% of the respondents and only 21% define the subjects in terms of Knowledge, Skills and Competencies.Conclusion: Education is a requisite to practice all over EU, however, the lack of EU-wide regulation leads to a variation of national regulation. This differences may lead to inhomogeneity of competencies developed compromising feasibility and safety of the movement of professionals.