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EAP4MC08-236-291hr

27/10/05

12:38 PM

Page 291

Professional

Profile

f youve ever broken a bone, had a mammogram, or


undergone radiation treatment, you have met an X-ray
technologist. X-ray technologists, or imaging technologists as they are often called, are the professionals who manage the machines and position the patients for scans and
treatments involving radiation.
There are actually four areas of radiologic technology. Radiographers use X-ray equipment, computed tomography
(CT) scans, mammography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to view particular bones, tissues, organs, and vessels within the body. Sonographers obtain images of the
body using sound wave technology. Nuclear medicine technologists use radiopharmaceuticals (such as dyes) and special cameras to produce images. Radiation therapists
administer therapy to cancer patients and other patients
requiring highly focused doses of radiation.

High-Tech Tools
Allen Nakagawa is a senior diagnostic radiologic technologist
at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco. Allen specializes in
spinal imaging, orthopedics, and pediatric orthopedics.
A typical day for me begins at about 6:15 A.M., says Allen. I
check on the incoming patient workload to see what will be
happening that day. I also coordinate the workload of the
students that I train.
On most days, Allen is assigned to the operating room.
In the OR, we have MRI machines that are built into the
room. Before we had this equipment in the OR, the surgeon
would have to stabilize and close the patient, and we would
move the patient to the imaging department for scans. When
we returned, up to an hour later, the surgeon would finish
the surgery. You can imagine how much stress that puts on
the patient and the surgical team. Now, in the OR, the surgeon removes any metal in the patient and we do the scan
right there with machines that retract back into the wall.
To become an X-ray technologist, you must study in a twoyear program. Some programs last four years. Anatomy and
physiology is a required course.You will take intensive anatomy

X-Ray Technologist
Allen Nakagawa
and additional anatomy and
physiology in each modality
you are considering working
in, says Allen.You dont
know which area you may
end up working in, so get as
much A & P as you can.
After completing the
course work, technologists
must
take a state licensing
You dontt know
exam and a national exam.
which area you may
Once theyve acquired
end up working in, so their licenses, they can
specialize in particular
get as much A & P as areas or work as generalists. Some people only do
you can.
diagnostic imaging; others
work in the OR, in outpatient care, or in a variety of
departments. You can work in a hospital or in an imaging
center. Some technologists specialize in doing CT scans,
or PET scans, or MRI.

Patient Contact
Regardless of where a technologist works, contact with
patients is the core of the job. You have to enjoy working
with people. It can be hard, because many of your patients
are really suffering. We get patients who are terminal, and we
get kids who are really sick.
Allen enjoys working in one of the best hospitals in the
world, using a variety of equipment to assist physicians
and help diagnose patients. As an imaging technologist,
he is an integral part of the patient care team. Physicians
need to see what is going on inside the body. Even when
the body is opened up, physicians still need information
they can only get from imaging. For example, patients
who have been in auto accidents may behave normally,
but they may have a hematoma or a skull fracture that
isnt apparent.

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