JOB SHADOW

By: Hilary Doherty

Talmage Shill ~ RadiologistKevin Pearce ~ X-Ray Technician I shadowed Dr. Shill at Intermountain

Medical Center on 5400 South and State Street.

This is the new hospital that they built in Murray.

I also shadowed Kevin Perce, an X-ray Technician, at Utah Orthopedic Specialists.

I actually went there when I broke my wrist, and it’s located at 5323 S. Woodrow St. #200.

What Dr. Shill does

On a typical day, Dr. Shill reads studies, performs biopsies and reads CT scans and chest X-rays.

What Kevin does: On a typical day,

Kevin is busy taking X-rays all day, taking care of patients – making sure they are safe and sometimes even taking out stitches.

It includes a lot of walking and upper body moving the x-ray machine.

What type of training or education is required for SLCC:

First you must apply and get into the radiology program with good grades.

Then you pass all the radiology course with a B+ or better

For radiology technicians, you must pass the ARRT exam, which is the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.

To become a RPT ~ Radiology Practical Technician

Kevin, who is a RPT took a 66 hour course at Davis Applied Technology College, where is now also teaches.

Responsibilities of the job

CT scans X-rays Diagnostic exams Patient Care Getting and reading

diagnostic films Transport patient’s

safely Provide quality x-rays

What part of the job is:MOST SATISFYING MOST CHALLENGING

Kathy, the radiology technician said: Making a differenceDr. Shill said: Finding something

unexpected and making a discovery

Kevin, the RPT said: People coming back

and recognizing you, he enjoys working with the patient’s and says it is a lot of fun.

Kathy said: Difficult patients that

don’t appreciate that you are trying to help them

Dr. Shill said: Complex cases Lack of information MiscommunicationKevin said: Doing the same thing

every day ~ no variety

WHAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVANCEMENT ARE

THERE?

WHAT ENTRY JOBS ARE BEST FOR

LEARNING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE?

Train into different areas.

What type of training does the company offer for persons

entering the field? On the job training

for certain areas, such as X-Ray to CT scans.

Mostly you learn how to do it in school.

Dr. Shill said: In a hospital because

you will learn more in different areas than you would in a clinic.

Radiology Technician is the entry job but some places have Radiology Technician’s Assistants.

Kevin said: In an orthopedic clinic

because you cover the whole body.

From your perspectiv

e, what are the

problems you see

working in this field?

Changes in healthcare.

Nobody knows what’s going to happen with their jobs

Malpractice

Metal management

Too many patient’s where you can’t take the time for the patient’s to be comfortable and you can’t get the exact picture you want.

If you could do things

over again, would you choose the same field you are in?

Why?

Kathy, the Radiology Technician said: No, she would have liked to

become a physician's assistant and continuing working on her degrees

Dr. Shill, the Radiologist said: Yes, because there is high

job satisfaction.Kevin, the RPT said: Yes, he loves his job, pay is

good and a good field to be in.

Are good teamwork skills required for the job?

More like good personal skills with dealing with patients. You need to have compassion for them, because they are scared to be there and are looking at surgery.

This is a women getting her broken ankle x-rayed.

My feelings about my experiences

I learned a lot with Kevin, he made me feel welcome and actually taught me how to do some things, like how far away the x-ray machine should be per person, what kind of x-ray were needed per person and he let me take some of the x-rays, which was awesome!

Doing 2 job shadows really helped me decide which part of my field that I want to go into, which is X-Ray Technician, or RPT, Radiology Practical Technician.

Kevin gave me some really good advise about the field.

THANK YOU CARD FOR DR. SHILL

THANK YOU CARD FOR KEVIN