Texas Radiologic Technologist Licensing Guide

Most of the radiology family in Texas runs on the general license. A handful of credentials genuinely diverge, and those are the ones worth reading closely. Below is one subsection per real difference, then roll-up lines for everything else.

CT Technologist

Divergence: specialty difference. Computed tomography performed under the authority of the general MRT certificate.

• Credential: General Medical Radiologic Technologist certificate; ARRT post-primary CT certification is employer/facility-applied, not a separate Texas credential

Sonographer / Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound

Divergence: no state credential. Diagnostic ultrasound uses no ionizing radiation, so it falls outside the Ch. 601 'radiologic procedure' definition. Texas issues no sonography license.

• Credential: No Texas state license. Employers effectively require national certification (ARDMS RDMS/RDCS/RVT or ARRT(S))

How it differs from the general license: Unlike the radiographer license, Texas does not regulate or credential sonographers at all; competency is established through voluntary national certification required by employers rather than any state authorization.

Limited Medical Radiologic Technologist (LMRT)

Divergence: limited-scope tier. Authorization to perform radiologic procedures only on specific parts of the human body. Texas categories include skull, chest, spine, extremities, podiatric, chiropractic, and cardiovascular.

• Fee: $94 renewal, every 2 years
• Credential: Pass the ARRT Limited Scope of Practice in Radiography exam for the applicable category and the Texas LMRT exam/Jurisprudence requirements; does not require full ARRT radiography certification
• CE: Subject to a 24-hour/24-month CE requirement like the general certificate; an active ARRT card in good standing can satisfy CE except the human trafficking prevention course

How it differs from the general license: A below-full-license credential restricted to enumerated body regions, rather than full-scope radiography. It requires only the ARRT limited-scope exam (not full ARRT certification) and cannot perform the complete range of radiologic procedures the general MRT certificate authorizes.

Medical Physicist

Divergence: separate license. Practice of medical radiological physics in one or more licensed specialties: Diagnostic Radiological Physics, Therapeutic Radiological Physics, Medical Nuclear Physics, and Medical Health Physics.

• Fee: $130 application, every 2 years
• Credential: Distinct license, not derived from the MRT certificate. Requires CAMPEP-accredited education (or equivalent physics/physical-science degree), passage of board-approved specialty examinations, and a Texas Jurisprudence exam
• CE: Continuing education governed under a separate medical physicist schedule (TMB CE requirements for medical physicists), independent of the MRT 24-hr/24-month requirement

How it differs from the general license: An entirely separate professional license (Ch. 602), not a technologist certificate. It licenses physicists rather than technologists, requires advanced physics education and specialty board exams, and is divided into four physics specialties unrelated to the MRT certificate.

Specialties that follow the general Texas license

These run under the general radiologic technologist license and need no separate state credential: Radiation Therapist, Nuclear Medicine Technologist, and Mammography.

Before you pay: confirm your modality

Within radiology, whether a modality needs its own state credential is not consistent, and it is the thing travelers most often get wrong. MRI, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, sonography, and CT can each be a separate state license in one state, a facility credential checked against your ARRT registration in the next, and nothing extra in a third.

The divergences we verified for Texas are above. What we cannot see is your specific assignment and the site you land at. Before you submit any application fee for an advanced modality, confirm with your recruiter whether Texas issues a state credential for it or whether the facility handles that against your certification. We would rather you ask first than pay for something the role never required.