Yes, you can do TeslaMR clinicals at the imaging center or hospital MRI department where you already work, but only if the employer agrees to host you and TeslaMR approves the site. A hallway yes from a friendly tech is not enough. You need a site agreement, an ARRT or ARMRIT mentor, scanner time, and exam variety. Students who enroll with that approval get a $500 tuition credit after their first logged OJT hour.
If your manager will not host you, you still train. You just train somewhere else in TeslaMR’s partner network.
What your employer is actually saying yes to
TeslaMR’s clinical sites page tells partners what qualifies. The published bar is an active 1.5T or 3T scanner with regular patient volume, an ARRT or ARMRIT certified technologist to supervise, enough exam variety to cover competencies, and 20-plus hours a week of scanner access during Phase 3.
“Regular patient volume” means you can see brains, spines, joints, and the contrast cases the competency list requires. A one-room ortho MRI that only does knees may not be enough by itself. TeslaMR can add a second site if your employer is willing but thin on variety. Do not assume that.
Supervision is not a dedicated educator FTE. The site FAQ says the mentor must be available to oversee scans and sign off. If the only credentialed tech is already drowning in a two-scanner list, hosting you is extra work. That is the conversation to have with the lead, not with HR first.
There is no direct fee to the site. You pay TeslaMR. Tuition is $11,500 / $12,500 / $13,400 with a $2,000 deposit, from pricing. The site gives access and a mentor.
The $500 credit, and what does not count as OJT
TeslaMR applies a $500 clinical-site credit when you already work at an imaging facility, enroll with approval to train there, and log your first OJT hour. It is a tuition credit, not cash. It is not a discount for “I know someone in MRI.”
Hour rules are stricter than most aides expect. From the same clinical-sites FAQ:
- Expect clinical hours to be volunteer unless you are on TeslaMR’s DOL-registered apprenticeship track, where training is paid.
- Paid clock hours count only when the mentor, site, and student agree that block is MRI technologist training.
- Loggable work is scanning and related training: screening, greeting, positioning.
- Pure aide work — transport or room turnover alone — does not count.
- You and the mentor decide with integrity which hours qualify.
TeslaMR also requires at least 16 OJT hours a week once clinicals begin (admissions requirements). Phase 3 is built around 20-plus hours a week. If your employer will only give you four hours on Saturday, that site is not a complete plan.
Key Takeaway
Ask for scanner time, a named mentor, and a signed site packet. If those three are missing, you do not have an employer clinical site. You have a hope.
How to ask without making it HR’s problem
Take a one-page ask to the MRI lead or imaging director, then HR. Say you are enrolling in an ARMRIT-accredited 12–18 month program, you want to complete OJT at this scanner, and TeslaMR will send a site agreement and cover student liability insurance as described on the clinical-sites FAQ. Ask who would mentor you. Ask which days the list can absorb a student. Ask whether they already host TeslaMR students.
If they already have a signed TeslaMR agreement, your path is faster. SitePartners copy on the clinical-sites page says TeslaMR filters the public partner set to sites with a signed agreement. Being an employee does not skip that filter.
If they say no, ask whether a sister site in the same system will. Large groups already named on TeslaMR pages — RadNet, HCA Healthcare, Baylor Scott & White, Memorial Hermann — sometimes have one location that trains and another that does not. Do not invent a policy for a specific hospital. Ask that location.
What this path will not do
It will not turn your current aide or MA job into a technologist job on graduation day. TeslaMR does not guarantee placement. Hosting you is not a hiring requisition.
It will not let you log a full aide shift as clinicals. If you cannot carve training time out of the day, you need a partner site.
It is a strong fit when your lead already wants to grow a tech from inside, the scanner is busy, and someone will sign the packet this month. It is a weak fit when the department is one tech deep and already behind.
Related guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, if your employer agrees to become a TeslaMR clinical site and TeslaMR approves the site. You cannot log OJT hours there on a handshake. The site needs a signed agreement, a credentialed mentor, an active 1.5T or 3T scanner, and enough exam variety.
TeslaMR's clinical-site page lists four site needs: an active 1.5T or 3T scanner with regular patient volume, an ARRT or ARMRIT certified technologist to supervise, enough exam variety for competencies, and 20-plus hours a week of scanner access during Phase 3. Leadership also has to sign the site agreement.
No. TeslaMR's pricing page says students who already work at an imaging facility and enroll with approval to train at their employer's site earn a $500 credit, applied once they log their first OJT hour. No approval, no first hour, no credit.
Not by themselves. TeslaMR tells sites that clinical hours are usually unpaid volunteer time. Paid hours count only when the mentor, site, and student agree the block is MRI technologist training. Scanning, screening, greeting, and positioning can count. Transport or room turnover alone does not.
An ARRT or ARMRIT certified MRI technologist must supervise clinical hours. They do not have to be assigned to you full time. They do have to be available to oversee scans and sign competencies.
You can still enroll. TeslaMR lists 334+ partner clinical sites in 38 states on /pricing and /clinical-sites. You will commute to a partner site instead of training in your own building. TeslaMR does not guarantee a seat at your employer.
No. Hosting you is not a job offer. Some sites use students as a pipeline. Some do not have an opening when you finish. Ask the imaging director that question in writing.