Radiography – A new field among health sciences in Finland

In order to secure high quality X-ray services and efficient operation of clinical radiography, a study programme in radiography science was implemented at the University of Oulu in 1999. The need for a specific field of science has emerged as a result of social changes, such as the aging population, and the fast development of technology that has caused significant changes in the radiological working environment and clinical radiography. A need for a new, research-based informational foundation of clinical radiography is the basis for the programme. As service producers, radiographers need vast knowledge as well as specific expertise.The research object of radiography science is clinical radiography. If it was studied from the viewpoint of other sciences, the key professional skills of a radiographer would remain unexplored. Implementing an own field of science has enabled the development of radiography from its own bases. Basic research in the field is represented, for example, by the concept analysis of radiography in health sciences. Radiography science should produce research results for both clinical radiography and the instruction of radiography. So far, research results have dealt with the professional decision-making of a radiographer, the influences of computer technology on a radiographer's work and measuring the radiation exposure of a population.