NIC radiography graduate lands job after long North Idaho commute

Michael Lesperance spent nearly two years driving from St. Maries to Coeur d’Alene for class, then rented an apartment in the Newport, Washington, area so he would not have to cross Fourth of July Pass through winter and spring weather. The long commute, the fuel costs and the extra housing expense turned his radiography degree into a test of persistence as much as academics, but it ended with a job at Bonner General Health in Sandpoint after he graduated from North Idaho College in May.

His path shows how tightly North Idaho College’s Radiography Technology Program is linked to the region’s health care workforce. The competitive-entry associate degree program admits 10 students each year in Coeur d’Alene, and applicants must complete prerequisite coursework with at least a B-/2.7 to be considered. NIC says the program received full accreditation for seven years on April 29 from the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology, a step that reinforces the program’s standing as one of the college’s most closely watched health professions tracks.

The numbers behind the program help explain why it matters to patients and employers across Kootenai County and beyond. NIC says its radiography graduates have posted a 100% job placement rate since 2019 and a 100% first-attempt pass rate on the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists national board exam since 2018. The national first-attempt pass rate is 85%, making NIC’s results a strong outlier in a field where hospitals need licensed technologists ready to work immediately.

Those jobs are landing in the local system. NIC said all eight radiography graduates in 2025 passed the ARRT exam on their first attempt and all eight found work, mostly at Kootenai Health, Bonner General Hospital, Northwest Specialty Hospital and Newport Hospital and Health Services. Six of those graduates scored in the 99th percentile or higher on the exam. Among them were Mikayla Jakubek, Bethany Littman and Aurianna Pine of the Inland Northwest, along with Eric Holt of Moorpark, California.

Bonner General Health, where Lesperance was hired, is a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital that serves Sandpoint, Bonner County, Northern Idaho, Eastern Washington and Western Montana. NIC says its Health Professions Division uses industry-standard labs and equipment that mirror regional health care settings, helping graduates move directly into roles that improve patient access to imaging services. Bethany Littman said she wants to expand her skill set in interventional radiology, which NIC describes as minimally invasive, image-guided treatment for conditions that once required open surgery. For adults weighing a career change, Lesperance’s route shows that a demanding commute can still lead to stable work in one of North Idaho’s most essential professions.