Texas Radiologic Board Returns to Its Rules Weeks After Dropping a Training Requirement

A rule that took effect Sept. 3 erased a 120-hour classroom requirement for the uncertified technicians allowed to operate X-ray equipment in Texas medical offices. The board that wrote it meets Sept. 18 for the first time since, with two standing slots on its agenda for more work on the same chapter.

The board’s position is that the 120 hours were never supposed to be there. When the Texas Medical Board reorganized and renumbered its rules in early 2025, the figure turned up in the section on education standards for non-certified technicians. The agency called it a scrivener’s error and said the amendment “corrects and restores the original requirements.” What remains is a floor of 62 hours in radiation safety, image production and equipment operation, plus at least one anatomy unit — as few as 66 hours in total, by the arithmetic one commenter did.

Sixty-six people wrote in, among them registered technologists, educators and the state’s radiologic technologist society, whose president testified in person when the board voted in June. The society argued that the change lowers the threshold to enter the field, asked that training on multiple anatomical areas be kept, and asked the board to clarify what these technicians may do. The board adopted the amendment without changes. The full medical board, which holds a veto over its rules, approved it in August.

Pressure on the chapter is not finished. In a review of medical board rules, the governor’s new regulatory efficiency office recommended five further cuts to it: broadening what continuing education counts, deferring to a national accreditor instead of naming several by hand, consolidating seven forms for uncertified technicians into one, accepting a national credential in place of transcripts, and deleting a list of duties. The board’s agenda reserves items for proposing and adopting rules but names none, so any of it could surface Sept. 18, or none of it.

The rest is routine: enforcement reports, agreed orders, cases recommended for dismissal, approval of programs and instructors, and the June minutes. Roughly 29,500 radiologic technologists work in Texas. How many people are on the uncertified technician registry the September rule governs is not published anywhere the Dispatch could find.

Meeting at a glance

Board members

• Faraz A. Khan — presiding officer; Houston; radiologist with Radiology Partners.
• Nicholas M. Beckmann — assistant presiding officer; Houston; radiology professor, UTHealth Houston.
• Jennifer C. Brandt — secretary-treasurer; Fort Worth; registered radiologist assistant, UT Southwestern.
• Scott A. Morren — Anton; lead MRI technologist, Covenant Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
• Melanie Lutz — Cypress; radiologic technologist and quality director, Memorial Hermann.
• James Kenneth Stout — Ropesville; senior radiology manager, Covenant Children’s Hospital.
• Shaila D. Parker — Garland; professional organizer; public member.
• Lucia Sisniega — Midland; commercial real estate owner; public member.
• Regan R. Landreth — Georgetown; construction company owner; public member.

Roster and officer titles from the posted agenda and the board’s membership page, cross-checked against the governor’s appointment releases. All nine seats are filled; terms expire February 1 of odd-numbered years. Khan and Landreth served roughly three months past their term dates in 2025 before being reappointed. The agency’s roster page carries no term dates and differs from the governor’s releases on several cities and employers — Landreth (Georgetown or Salado), Parker (Garland or Dallas), Brandt (Fort Worth or Azle); where they conflict the article follows the agency. The notice calls the board the “Texas Medical Radiologic Technology Board”; the statute and the agency’s own agenda use the name above. Stephen Carlton is the medical board’s executive director. Staff contact: Alicia Freeman, (512) 971-7205.