The tough job market continues to affect me. I got hired at the VA as a fee-based CT technologist on a part time basis. I was told that I would work 5 days a week every other week until the two full-time open positions were filled. This was supposed to take me at least into the fall of this year. In an unprecedented turn of events, the usually ...

It’s not every day that I get to be on the other side of the X-ray table or scanner. This week, I went for a mammogram and got to do just that. I was going to tell the technologist what I do for a living but decided not to. She was nice, but she did not make me feel at ease when I entered the room. She didn’t do several things that I try to always ...

One dilemma I occasionally face is having to scan a patient who has killed someone. We often get motor vehicle accident traumas brought in after a fatality, and the patient we are scanning is the cause of the accident. I had one such case last weekend, where a man was driving drunk with his wife and son in the car. The wife was pretty banged up ...

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 ...

Recently the number of infants and children I’m scanning seems to be increasing. This population presents many challenges for me and my co-workers. How do you get an infant to stop crying and hold still long enough to get a diagnostic study? How do you deal with the scared parent(s)? Also, is a CT scan really the best option for a child due to the ...

One month and counting! It is almost graduation day, and time sure is flying. I am truly loving CT and am learning more than my fair share each day. I have never seen so many people suffer from a ground level fall (GLF). We saw a guy recently who actually broke his neck from a GLF. It doesn't seem possible, but then again I guess anything is ...

I had a great week! I did well on my first cumulative science comp and am managing to study a few hours each day for the registry. This is easing my discomfort about taking the test quite a bit. I have had a few ''ah ha!'' moments where things all sort of seemed to come together and make sense. This was, of course, fleeting, but at least it ...

One recurring theme for me over these past two years in school is the importance of knowing what is expected of me at each clinical setting. It sounds like a simple concept, but it's easy to forget until I specifically ask what is expected. Each semester, I felt more and more comfortable with my duties and had gained a good deal of knowledge, ...

My new clinical site, Moffitt Cancer Center, is offering me many new learning experiences in a state-of-the-art facility. All of the patients who come to this hospital for diagnostic exams have cancer. I see both inpatients and outpatients of all ages each day. My favorite part of my job is working with the patients and trying to make a ...

So often I find that when I'm taking a patient's X-rays, he or she may have no idea as to why the exam is taking place. Sometimes the patient knows because she complained to her doctor of pain in her hand, for example, and she's having a hand X-ray. More often, though, I find that the patient has no idea what they are having done and why. This is ...