# Nuclear medicine technologist and physicist workforce

Source: https://nuclide.cc/bottlenecks/b-nuclear-medicine-workforce/  
Nuclide record `b-nuclear-medicine-workforce` (Bottleneck). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from Nuclide (nuclide.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Radioactive cancer treatments need specially trained technologists and physicists to prepare and check every dose, and there simply are not enough of them. Hospitals in Europe, the US and Canada are all reporting job vacancies that stay open for months.

## Summary

A 2024 EANM cross-sectional survey of the European nuclear medicine workforce (239 respondents, 31 countries) found that 80.2% of departments reported at least one open vacancy, with technologists/radiographers hit hardest (61.6% vacancy rate) followed by physicians (57.1%); more than half of all open positions (57.7%) had remained unfilled for six months or longer. In the United States, a 2026 SNMMI-TS/NMTCB salary and workforce study surveyed 26,336 nuclear medicine technologists and received 2,271 responses, finding median hourly pay had risen 15% (to $51.28) since 2022 -- itself a sign of a tight labour market pushing wages up to attract staff.

The pipeline problem is structural, not just cyclical: a US analysis found the certified nuclear medicine technologist workforce shrank by about 1,438 people (6%) between 2012 and 2022 as training programmes closed and experienced staff left the field, and a follow-up regional survey found roughly a quarter of working technologists plan to retire or leave direct patient care within 5-10 years. SNMMI's own 2025 Theranostics Stakeholders Summit survey found 70.5% of responding institutions had current hiring vacancies in nuclear medicine or theranostics.

This workforce gap sits underneath, and partly explains, several of the field's other access problems: without enough technologists to run cameras and generators, and physicists to support dosimetry and quality assurance, expanding hot-lab and treatment-room capacity does not translate into more patients treated.

## Fields

- Kind: Bottleneck
- Last checked: 2026-09-22
- Tags: workforce; technologists; training
- Stage: people-culture
- Severity: major
- Metrics: European nuclear medicine departments reporting an open vacancy (EANM 2024 survey): 80.2%; Technologist/radiographer vacancy rate in Europe (EANM 2024 survey): 61.6% of departments; European vacancies unfilled for 6 months or longer: 57.7% of open positions; US nuclear medicine technologist workforce change, 2012–2022: -1,438 (-6%); US NMTs surveyed who plan to retire or leave direct patient care within 5–10 years: ~26% (regional survey); SNMMI 2026 median NMT hourly pay, and change since 2022: $51.28, up 15% from $44.65; US institutions reporting current hiring vacancies in nuclear medicine/theranostics (SNMMI Summit survey): 70.5%
- Causes: Accredited nuclear medicine technologist training programmes have closed in several countries, shrinking the pipeline just as radioligand therapy caseloads are growing.; A wave of experienced technologists and physicists is approaching retirement at the same time demand is rising.; COVID-era attrition reduced the healthcare workforce broadly, and nuclear medicine has not recovered as quickly as some other specialties.; Pay and career-pathway visibility have historically lagged other imaging professions, making recruitment harder even where training capacity exists.

## Sources

- EANM nuclear medicine workforce survey (European Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 2024 data): https://boa.unimib.it/retrieve/2b572834-6cd0-4a4d-af21-27e8aa4987a1/Van%20den%20Wyngaert%20et%20al-2026-The%20EANM%20Journal-VoR.pdf
- SNMMI-TS and NMTCB 2026 Salary and Workforce Study: https://snmmi.org/common/Uploaded%20files/Web/Research-Publications/2026%20Salary%20and%20Workforce%20Study.pdf
- Future challenges and occupational prospects of nuclear medicine technologists (JNM abstract): https://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/64/supplement_1/TS19
- SNMMI Theranostics Stakeholders Summit white paper (2025), staffing survey: https://snmmi.org/common/Uploaded%20files/News/Theranostics_Stakeholders_Summit_White_Paper_FINAL_6-2025.pdf

## Connected records

- bottlenecks: [Authorized user shortage for radionuclide therapy](https://nuclide.cc/bottlenecks/b-authorized-user-shortage/), [Hot lab and shielded treatment room capacity](https://nuclide.cc/bottlenecks/b-hot-lab-capacity/)
- technologies: [Nuclear medicine and total-body PET hardware](https://nuclide.cc/technologies/nuclear-medicine-hardware/), [Radioligand dosimetry](https://nuclide.cc/technologies/radioligand-dosimetry/), [Radiopharmacy and cyclotron networks](https://nuclide.cc/technologies/radiopharmacy-network/)
- institutions: [European Association of Nuclear Medicine](https://nuclide.cc/institutions/eanm/), [Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging](https://nuclide.cc/institutions/snmmi/)

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