After going on an interview in mid December of last year, I was just given my start date at the VA of mid March. I guess it’s better late than never.  I was initially supposed to begin orientation today but some unfinished paperwork held things up.  I have seen first hand that getting a government job takes quite a bit longer than a ...

Jobs are difficult to get these days and it end ups being more about who you know, not what you know. I have my foot in the door at the VA because of a former colleague. She actually helped me get my first CT job right out of school and now she’s helping me out again. I guess I’ve impressed her somewhere along the way. This is an important ...

While I’m very excited about getting back to work, I haven’t done CT since October of 2011. Before that I only did it for 2 ¼ years so I know I still have so much to learn. At my previous hospital I worked exclusively on a Philips machine and at the VA they have GE equipment. I’m told they are very different for the user. I will also have to learn ...

I spent most of yesterday at the VA Hospital having various tests performed and handing over copies of my fingerprints at the police station. I first met with a nice woman from HR who needed me to sign yet another form. She also informed me that I have more paperwork to complete on line. These forms seem to have no end. She then escorted me ...

As this year’s NFL football season comes to a close, many people are eagerly anticipating the Super Bowl. However, the physical damage the players suffer on the field will continue long after the games are over. A sad example of this comes from a young man from Indiana who was permanently injured playing high school football. He suffered a ...

Since many people don’t know the difference between CT and MRI, I was wondering if patients who get a CT even know about the radiation risks. I found a study that addresses this issue. A large medical center surveyed 235 patients who underwent either a CT or PET-CT. Researchers found that one third of patients receiving scans did not realize ...

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been researching hospitals that order too many CT scans. They particularly looked at the ordering of “double scans” or two scans ordered for the same patient; one with a contrast agent and the other without. “Such double scans are rarely necessary, and expose patients to 700 times as much ...

What does the word “ethical” mean to you? It is an important concept to be mindful of each and every day at work. From patient confidentiality to not sharing answers on continuing education tests, we are bound by standards that we must uphold as medical professionals. We dictate how patients and other staff view us. Many nurses I have ...

The world news often displays images of people living in countries with less than desirable conditions. This can include sub-par medical care. A diagnostic Radiologist and his wife visit Kenya as often as possible to help change this. Dr. Read Vaughan ''...taught ultrasound and computerized tomography scan techniques to between 30 and 35 medical ...

The May/June 2012 CT Edition of the Journal of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists has an excellent article about stroke and CT perfusion. The information outlined is invaluable to any technologist who has to perform perfusion scans. When they started doing them at my former hospital I received very little training on how to ...