Last Week

Well, I'm in my last week of clinicals for the semester and finally have all of my comps and clinical hours finished. I can officially say that I am now pooped. It has been a long semester of mostly work interspersed with the occasional day off. I am ready for a break.

The lead tech said something that really stuck with me last week. She was training another tech on a MRA of the wrist and she said, "can you do a carotid? Because if you can, you can do an MRA on any body part. You just take the principles and apply them using the proper coil and the body part." I know I will never forget that statement. She is always stressing that in MR common sense will carry you far.

Thank you Cindy, Penny and Laurie!

CT and MR

I noticed something interesting last week when I was working PRN in CT. All the time I have been spending in MR is really helping me with my reformats in CT. I think all the time spent thinking in 3 planes is starting to pay off. I noticed I was completing my reformats much more quickly last week, and they looked much better too.

I am working on Lumbar spines now and chugging along toward comp #2. I've been working a lot of hours between my weekend job, CT PRN and MR clinicals. I'm getting tired!

First Comp!!!

I got my first comp today, on a shoulder. One down, two to go! Next I will start working on lumbars and knees. I have been watching the techs extra closely when they scan those so I am hopeful I will do well on the various angles and it won't take me too long.

We had a MR brain for pituitary adenoma today. The patient had a known tumor and they were checking it for any signs of growth. I was amazed at how well you could see it even on the non-contrast images. A neat study to watch.

Highs and Lows

I returned to clinicals after a 2 week break and had a discouraging Monday on the scanner. I pretty much forgot everything. The techs worked with me quite a bit on Tuesday and I was able to get my sea legs back. I am feeling closer to being ready to comp on my shoulder. Thank you Laurie and Penny!

We had an interesting case on Wednesday - a MRA of the knees for suspected popliteal artery entrapment. I had never seen an MRA before so I learned a lot about how to use the power injector. Just don't ask me to do one! I know I would have missed the contrast in the arteries. I didn't even see it until the tech pointed it out to me. After the MRA the Rad wanted a few scans comparing the knees with the feet in different positions (toes down, gas pedal, and neutral). It was very interesting to watch the lead tech customize the protocol to the Rad's request. I was really able to see how technically competent and knowledgeable about the scanner she is.

Plugging along....

I have been on the scanner a bit each clinical day now working on shoulders, both post arthrogram and regular. Each time I sit down I feel a bit more comfortable and less nervous. I need to work on my speed in setting up the first scan. Talking w/the patients is getting easier. Now I think it is a matter of repetition, repetiton, repetition.

Another location

Today I went to a different CDI location for clinicals. I worked with a tech I have never worked with before and it was very interesting to see the variations in positioning for the scans. I am beginning to see that each tech has their own preferences - sponges vs. sandbags vs. pillows. I also noticed that each tech scans a bit differently as well. I enjoyed working with another tech today - I feel like I can pick and choose what will work for me. In other news, I also scanned a shoulder (with a lot of coaching) yesterday. It is so nice to finally be the one on the scanner.

On the scanner!!

Today was an exciting day. After 5 weeks of observing I was able to scan my first patient today - will a lot of assistance. It was a post-arthrogram hip. A few observations - I was concentrating so hard on what I was doing that I forgot to talk to the patient. Then I couldn't get the intercom working correctly.

I was able to set my 3 planes fairly easily - I think having worked in CT and doing reformats helped with that part of the scan. Also, I have worked on a Siemens CT scanner before and the MR is a Siemens as well, so some things are similar.

All in all a great day!! Thank you to all the wonderful techs I am working with. You made my day!!