Working at a teaching hospital has many pros and cons. One of the cons is the constant rotation of residents through the emergency room. While I respect their knowledge of medicine, they often don’t know which CT scans to order on their patients. They usually know what pathology they are looking for but don’t always know which scan will find ...

This week I finally had the opportunity to do a brain perfusion CT. One of our senior technologists was available to show me what to do. She is an excellent teacher, so the whole experience wasn’t as bad as I had initially anticipated. The post-processing isn’t too tough; just very tedious and unlike any other post-processing I do. The perfusion ...

I feel like I just got out of school and now it’s time to start studying for another registry. As if the first one wasn’t anxiety-provoking enough, here I go again. I love school but hate taking the so-called standardized test. I received a letter from the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) stating I’m eligible to take the CT ...

Each shift, I work with a senior technologist who is in charge of all that takes place. I appreciate the leadership. but often from shift to shift I am told to do things differently. This has made the learning process difficult and slower for me because you can't exactly tell your superior “No, I want to do it this way.” As I'm becoming ...

I had a great weekend back at work. Everyone was very happy to see me and even people in other departments stopped by to welcome me back. This felt great! It really is true that a vacation can make all the difference when you are stressed out from work. I thought I'd have a tough time readjusting to my schedule after being on vacation, but this ...

I got a comment on my Facebook page from a guy who I went to X-ray school with; it really made me stop and think. He got a job working Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the OR and on portables. He told me he encountered some nice students who would be rotating through CT soon and told me to teach them a thing or two.He seems to ...

Not only am I enjoying my new career more and more each week but I am so grateful to have all of the benefits that come with a full time position. My benefits recently kicked in and I am saving a good deal of money each month on prescriptions and doctor's visits.One thing I haven't had since 1997 is paid time off. I took my first weekend off this ...

I recently had the pleasure of taking care of and scanning my first legally blind patient. Having worked with special needs children in previous jobs I had no reservations about treating this patient. Most patients are usually in pain and scared to have their first CT so you can imagine how nervous she must have been not being able to see the ...

There are so many differences being a student and actually working now as an employee in a Level 1 Trauma Center ER. The pace of the work varies greatly from shift to shift. This past Friday it was the busiest shift I've ever worked and I thought this would be a predictor of how the rest of the weekend would go. It turned out to be the slowest ...

While so many people are looking for jobs, I feel so fortunate to have my first day of work. I started today, Monday, July 6 and I am so excited. I jumped through all of the human resources hoops last week. I filled out a great deal of paperwork, gave blood, had an eye test and so much more. They really do a thorough screening of their ...