My Career

MY CAREER

My Job title or position is Radiology Technician.

As a technician in Radiology I operate advanced equipment that includes X-ray, magnetic resonance, computerized axial tomography, mammography and echography. Consequently, in this profession, we are responsible for achieving high quality images and respecting the norms regarding the doses of the radiation. The protection of the patients is very important in this domain. Radiology technician also plays an important psychological role by calming the anxieties of patients who may be concerned about the procedure and their condition. The paediatric branch also requires patience and professionalism to performing the best images and maximum security and protection for children. The technicians have many accomplishments like: explaining to patients to remove their jewelry, clothing and other items that could interact with the equipment, they position the patients correctly and protect them from overexposure, by covering the important parts of the body not to be filmed. Sometimes, to make the best images the technician needs to inject barium or iodine, the contrast agents

to improve the image quality. It is very important also to verify before the radiography if the patient is allergic or not to the contrast agent, because that could be fatal for the patient.

The students in radiology make progress by continuous education and training because they need to acquire a lot of experience before entering the field. Many of them continue with more than one speciality, but others prefer being specialized in particular diagnostic tests. College lasts for three years, followed by another specialization. In my case, for example, I choose the echography like speciality, but I need another year of specialization in echography because this work requires a lot of practice and acknowledge.

Radiology technicians usually work in hospitals, clinics, imaging centers, private centers or mobile imaging service centers. A radiology technician works often in the weekend, holidays and in the night shifts, but it is not an issue, once your professional reward is fulfilled. The technician’s performance and skills could promote them higher in career, but with certain limitations, for example, they could never put a diagnosis, because only the radiologist can do that.

In Conclusion, I choose this career because I find it very important to help people in need. Since I came to Canada I decided to change my profession because I have always liked medicine. I admit that this job requires a lot of effort, but also I consider that there are many professional and personal satisfactions. I wish to work in the field of fetal ultrasound because I find that is the most interesting and human choice.

In addition I love to see the little babies who start their shy development in a new world for them but I think that is really important for their mothers to make sure they are in good health and that they have a normal development.

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