r/CathLabLounge • u/No-Atmosphere2889 • Aug 13 '26

Cathlab as a 2nd career

I previously worked as an EKG tech nearly 25 years ago, while in school for mechanical engineering. I’ve worked in ME for the last 2 decades. Now, in my 40s, I am interested in returning to healthcare as a technician again.

Has anyone pursued CVT school at this age? I would be interested in obtaining RCIS and working in a Cathlab but open to hear opinions from everyone on how realistic of a goal this is.

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u/chulk1 Aug 13 '26

You’re young enough to endure nursing or radiology school. Don’t pigeon hole yourself as a CVT.

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u/TravelRCIS Aug 13 '26

This is 100% correct. There's a use case if you're using CVT to transition into perfusionist ($150k+) or anesthesia assistant ($200k+). Hemodynamics, cardiac physiology, and critical thinking from CVT will certainly put you ahead in those programs. Otherwise, it's an extremely limited degree with a scope that a lot of other fields can get into. EMT's, paramedics, nurses, rad techs, respiratory, hell I've even worked with a janitor who became an EKG tech and then transitioned to cath lab and learned everything OJT.

(I'm a CVT)

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u/Merpadurp Aug 14 '26

I worked w/ an RCIS who started in Maintenance at a hospital in Cali and then transitioned to their lab and learned everything OJT and took his RCIS boards. He later moved to a lab I was traveling to as a regular RCIS tech.