Now that we are back in Florida, I am eagerly looking for a job. Thanks to a wonderful former colleague, I am now in the hiring process for a CT position at the VA Hospital. If any of you have ever applied for a government job you know it can be a lengthy process. They have told me it can take up to three months. I am trying to be patient as my ...

This past week I had the pleasure of working with a great student. She was so eager to learn and not afraid to try anything. What a treat! Many veteran technologists don't want to deal with students but they forget the students are paying to be there. Ultimately, it is our responsibility to share our knowledge with them. We all remember the techs ...

Each July we see an influx of new residents to our teaching hospital. I work mostly with emergency medicine and radiology residents. Despite their vast knowledge base, they often don't know our usual protocols for CT. This creates quite a challenge for all involved. Last week I worked on one of the most complicated orders I have ever encountered. ...

Does reality ever measure up with expectations? We see something and want to buy it hoping it will make us happy. We think if I only had that car or that job then I will have truly arrived. The truth is the happiness and growth comes during the pursuit of what we seek, not in attaining it.  When I was in X-ray school, I wanted a job in CT ...

Last weekend the veteran technologist I usually work with was away at a conference. I had no idea who I’d be working with and this left me feeling a little uneasy. It turned out that Saturday I worked with a woman I am very familiar with and truly enjoy and Sunday with a woman I rarely encounter. I was very proud of how I handled myself throughout ...

When I graduated from x-ray school I was eager to take a job where I could work with students. I am a teacher at heart and fresh off the student wagon I hoped I could make a difference in someone’s education like so many folks had done for me. For this past year and five months this hasn’t been possible because of my schedule. Most students rotate ...

An article I read this week for CEU credit proved to be quite interesting and informative. It discussed bleeding risks in interventional radiology (IR). I did a rotation through IR when I was in school and found it fascinating. I’m always delighted when I can learn something new that isn’t directly related to CT but rather to the overall care and ...

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 ...