How to Check Radiology Staff Registration in NZ

By Dr. Mark Bekhit, Radiologist
Last updated August 2026

A register check confirms public regulatory information. It does not rank the practitioner or clinic, and it cannot guarantee the quality of a particular scan or report. Its value is simpler: it helps you use the correct regulator and understand what the public fields mean.

Which NZ register should I use?

Start with the person’s professional role, not simply whether they are standing beside the scanner. New Zealand radiology involves regulated imaging practitioners and medical doctors. They are checked on different public registers.

The MRTB regulates medical imaging technologists, MRI technologists, nuclear medicine technologists, sonographers and radiation therapists. The Medical Council regulates doctors, including radiologists. Its definition of diagnostic and interventional radiology covers both diagnosis and treatment using imaging, so “person who performs the procedure” does not always mean MRTB.

The formal titles matter. For example, the MRTB describes a medical imaging technologist as a practitioner who produces radiographs and who may have additional training in CT, mammography or angiography. MRI technologist, sonographer and nuclear medicine technologist are separate scopes. If you only know a local label such as “the scanner operator”, ask for the formal role before choosing the register.

How do I check an MRTB practitioner?

The MRTB homepage links to its public register and says the public can check registered practitioners by name or scope of practice. If you are checking a particular person, a name search is the clearest starting point.

1. Get the full professional name and role. A first name, nickname or job description may not be enough to identify the correct record.
2. Open the MRTB public-register search. Use the register entry point on the Board’s official website rather than a clinic biography or social profile.
3. Search the person’s name. Check spelling and compare the displayed details carefully. A scope search is more useful when you are exploring the register than when verifying one named person.
4. Read the scope. Confirm that the listed professional scope fits the role you were given.
5. Check the APC information. Do not stop merely because a name appears on the register.
6. Clarify a mismatch. If the name, role, scope or APC does not appear to fit, use the three identity questions below before treating the search result as evidence of a problem.

The MRTB’s current register policy says its public register contains the practitioner’s name, qualifications, registered scopes and practising-certificate information, along with current suspension or related condition information where applicable. These are regulatory fields, not customer reviews.

What do registration, APC and scope of practice mean?

These terms answer different questions. The distinction between registration and an annual practising certificate is particularly important because a person’s name can remain on the register after their APC has expired.

The MRTB explains that registration means a person applied, was assessed against registration requirements, held a suitable qualification and met fitness-for-registration requirements. It separately states that a practitioner must hold a current APC to work in any scope of practice in New Zealand.

An expired APC does not necessarily make the name disappear. The Board says a person can still be on the register after a previous APC has expired, but cannot legally work without a current APC. That is why “I found the name” is only the first part of the check.

Scope describes the regulated area of practice; it is not a grade or rating. Read the formal scope shown on the public record and compare it with the role you were given.

How do I check a radiologist?

A radiologist is a medical doctor. Use the Medical Council’s register of doctors, not the MRTB register. The Council says its public register shows whether a doctor is currently registered and able to practise in New Zealand.

Enter the doctor’s name without the title “Dr”. If the search returns no result, the Council recommends trying again without location or area-of-medicine filters. This avoids a narrow filter hiding the correct record.

For a specialist radiologist, diagnostic and interventional radiology is the relevant Medical Council vocational scope.

The distinction between radiologist and radiographer is easy to miss. The guide to who works at a radiology clinic explains the different roles. If your question is about the result rather than registration, use the guide to reading and understanding a radiology report.

What can a public-register check tell me — and what can it not?

Registration is an important regulatory check, not a review score. Keep the conclusion within what the public record actually shows.

For the separate task of choosing a service, use the accessible-clinic checklist, the pre-scan questions guide and the Radiology Clinics NZ directory.

What should I ask if the name or role is unclear?

Under Right 6 of the Code of Rights, you can ask for honest and accurate answers about a provider’s identity and qualifications. The HDC’s patient summary also states that you have the right to know the name of the person providing services and information about their qualifications.

A failed search is not automatically evidence that someone is unregistered. The name may be misspelled, the doctor search may include an unnecessary title or filter, or the professional role may route to a different register. Work through the three questions above first.

If you still have a concern after clarification, the existing guide to radiology feedback and complaints in New Zealand explains the next routes. If asking the question itself is difficult because you need an interpreter, NZSL or accessible information, see the guide to radiology communication support.

Frequently asked questions

Are radiographers and radiologists on the same register?

No. A regulated medical imaging practitioner such as a medical imaging technologist, MRI technologist, sonographer or nuclear medicine technologist is checked on the MRTB public register. A radiologist is a doctor and is checked on the Medical Council register.

Does appearing on the MRTB register mean a person can currently practise?

Not by itself. The MRTB says a person may remain on the register after an APC expires. To work in a registered scope in New Zealand, the practitioner needs a current APC.

What does APC mean for a radiographer or sonographer?

APC means annual practising certificate. It is the current certificate required to work in an MRTB scope in New Zealand. Registration, scope and APC are separate fields, so check all three rather than relying on the name alone.

What if I cannot find someone on the register?

Check the spelling and use the identity questions above to establish the person’s full professional name and role. For a doctor, remove “Dr”, location and area-of-medicine filters. Do not conclude that the person is unregistered from one failed search.

Can I ask a radiology clinic for a staff member’s full name and qualifications?

Yes. Right 6 of the Code supports honest and accurate answers about a provider’s identity and qualifications. Ask calmly for the formal professional name and role needed for the relevant register search.

Sources and methodology

This guide was reviewed on 4 August 2026 against current public information from the MRTB, Medical Council of New Zealand, and Health and Disability Commissioner. The key source pages are:

• MRTB public-register entry point
• MRTB: what the Board regulates
• MRTB: annual practising certificates
• MRTB: professions and scopes
• MRTB: managing the register policy
• Medical Council: register of doctors
• Medical Council: diagnostic and interventional radiology scope
• HDC: Code of Rights
• HDC: patient summary of rights

This article is general information, not personal medical advice. Ask your referrer which service is available, and ask the clinic whether public funding or ACC cover applies and what you will need to pay.

Author: Dr. Mark Bekhit

Dr Mark Bekhit (MBChB, FRANZCR) is a musculoskeletal radiologist practising in Brisbane and an AHPRA-registered specialist in diagnostic radiology (MED0002920947). He spends as much time building software as reading scans: he founded Imaging Finder (Australia) and Radiology Clinics NZ to make imaging easier to find, and builds radiology dictation and pain-tracking tools with one aim — better patient outcomes and a smoother reporting workflow. Outside the reading room he's usually training, bringing the same performance mindset to imaging.