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 ...

My recent blogs have discussed the importance of providing excellent patient care. This week i got a whole new perspective on going that extra mile. Early Sunday morning I had to go to the ER. I was in bad shape and was promptly admitted. i thought I'd get the usual chest x-ray and/or head CT but I didn't need those. I did end up needing lab work, ...

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 ...

In Canada, CT scans will now be more readily available to four legged patients. Charlottetown’s Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island is testing a new CT machine that will be used to diagnose animals. In the past, only the critical cases were taken to a local human hospital under sedation and scanned. This new machine will be ...

I recently learned that a friend of mine went to see a cosmetic surgeon for an oddly shaped clavicle. A chest x-ray was taken as a routine measure and an abnormality was identified in the lung. A follow up CT scan was ordered. The scan found a mass in my friend's lung that was eventually determined to be benign. However, she had to have surgery to ...

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 ...

It is estimated that up to 1% of all cancers in the United States can be linked to medical radiation. This means with each x-ray or CT scan the risk increases. A recent study in The Journal of Cancer found a link between dental x-rays and brain tumors called meningiomas. The majority of the tumors are benign but depending upon their location they ...

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune discusses recent fines that were assessed on a surgical center and two of its nurses for operating x-ray equipment without the proper license. The violations involved a fluoroscope machine. In the state of Illinois and many other states, radiologic equipment must be operated by health professionals licensed ...

While colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the United States and third most frequently diagnosed cancer, many people are reluctant to have a colonoscopy. Colonoscopies are procedures that look for pre-cancerous growths or polyps, cancer, or other diseases of the large intestine. While cost and lack of access to ...

As the NFL playoffs continue this weekend, I did some research to find out if all NFL stadiums are equipped with x-ray machines. This is something I have always wondered about and found the answer today. The year was 1973 and Dale Hackbart was playing in the first regular season game for the Denver Broncos against the Cincinnati Bengals. Just ...