Thank you for sharing! We still learned shielding in school, but none of the 6 different clinical sites I rotated through shielded anymore. I still get lots of questions from patients about it as a tech now
Wow, 6 clinical sites? Your school really wanted you guys to experience a lot of variety! That’s awesome! It can be hard to navigate the conversation with patients about shielding..
I find this channel informative for future rad techs, however, my facination is MRI tech and have no desire to do both. Schooling for MRI is feasible and they pay excellent as well.
I can understand that. Many MRI techs choose to stick with MR whereas CT techs are more likely to go back and forth between their modality and X-ray. I’m glad that you discovered a career that speaks to you!
I found a Reddit post just the other day asking techs what health issues they've seen the most in fellow radiology techs. It was one person after the next saying either thyroid cancer or cataracts. Any idea what would cause cataracts so commonly in this field?
Sensitive parts of your body such as your thyroid and eyes are going to react to radiation exposure at lower rates than other body parts. It is generally recommended to wear lead lined glasses and thyroid shields when performing fluoroscopic procedures but techs may not choose to wear these additional protective equipment for various reasons. The hospitals that I’ve been employed in require lead vests to be worn but not thyroid shields or lead lined glasses. Honestly I don’t even know where to find lead lined glasses in my current hospital that I’m allowed to wear (not belonging to a radiologist). So ultimately the head and neck of a radiographer are frequently exposed and since the eyes and thyroid are already sensitive to radiation then they are negatively impacted the most. I hope this helped!
@@SydneyPipp Yes it helps tremendously. thank you so much! I think health issues in this field should be spoken about more often, you don't see much about it.
Every hospital is different but from what I have seen is general radiology does not supply lead glasses for specific individuals. You may find that a department has a pair of “community” glasses that are shared amongst the entire staff. However, if you are in an interventional radiology or cath lab role I have seen personal issued glasses. This is because these techs are exposed to a lot more radiation than general rad techs.
Sydney Pipp: I was inside in a 2 -divided room for patients where only curtain served as the division. Unknowingly the x-ray technician didn't check that I was with the other patient. She pressed the button for the x-ray when I passed by. Question is, I am planning for a pregnancy 2 years from now, will it affect my fertility or other health condition? Thank you.
There is a six foot rule with X-ray that we should all follow. This is: if you aren’t the one getting the X-ray then you should be 6 feet away from the X-ray tube (the part with the light). You are considered to be unaffected by the scatter radiation at this distance. Even if you were the one getting an x-ray it should not negatively impact your future fertility. I wouldn’t be concerned about this scenario if I were you. 😌
This is a good point! I have heard of the theory that using a lead shield essentially "traps" scattered x-ray photons from being ejected from the patient's body resulting in an increase dose. However, the two articles that I referenced were more concerned about obscuring anatomy and covering AEC photocells. I attempted to do more research on the data that has been collected on the "trapped scatter" theory, but I have been unsuccessful thus far on finding solid proof from a reputable source. If you have a link with more information, then I would be glad to look over it!
Obscuring anatomy and covering photocells on the Bucky are two easily avoidable issues if the technologist is properly shielding their patient. It is their responsibility to ensure that the shield doesn’t cover pertinent anatomy or the photocell. It is also their responsibility to watch their patient as they are making the exposure to ensure the shield does not move out of place. By taking away the requirement to shield they are taking away these responsibilities from the techs. Ultimately there is an issue with techs not paying attention or being careless in shield positioning leading to increased patient dose. Does this answer your question or am I misunderstanding it?
@@SydneyPipp no im asking about what you say at 6:03 starting with "instead of" Im asking why do you think the recommendation was made to bringing responsibilty away from the techs and instead getting rid of shielding
@@biggooba6706 I feel as though higher ups that are responsible for making these recommendations had two options: either hold the techs accountable for improper shielding (meaning they would be appropriately reprimanded for overexposing their patients) or just take the shields away completely so that mistakes aren’t made on the techs behalf and nobody gets “in trouble”. I have seen plenty of sloppy work from techs over the years and it takes a LOT for someone to be held responsible for their actions. So I feel as though this was the easier route to take as far as recommendations go.
I don’t have specific recommendations because I only have experience with two of my local schools. However, look for programs in your area then research what their pass rate is for the ARRT registry.. this will give you an idea on how good their program is. You can also ask specific schools how many students they retain each year (how many students they start with versus how many graduate) which can speak to how their program operates.
My income varies because I am PRN (as needed) at my pediatric hospital position. However, it is not uncommon for a full-time X-ray tech to bring home $3,500-$4,000 a month after taxes in my area. I have a whole video on my page that goes more in depth with salary if you’re interested in more details.
Thank you for sharing! We still learned shielding in school, but none of the 6 different clinical sites I rotated through shielded anymore. I still get lots of questions from patients about it as a tech now
Wow, 6 clinical sites? Your school really wanted you guys to experience a lot of variety! That’s awesome! It can be hard to navigate the conversation with patients about shielding..
@@SydneyPipp haha yep! 3 months at 6 sites each 😂😅
I find this channel informative for future rad techs, however, my facination is MRI tech and have no desire to do both. Schooling for MRI is feasible and they pay excellent as well.
I can understand that. Many MRI techs choose to stick with MR whereas CT techs are more likely to go back and forth between their modality and X-ray. I’m glad that you discovered a career that speaks to you!
I found a Reddit post just the other day asking techs what health issues they've seen the most in fellow radiology techs. It was one person after the next saying either thyroid cancer or cataracts. Any idea what would cause cataracts so commonly in this field?
Sensitive parts of your body such as your thyroid and eyes are going to react to radiation exposure at lower rates than other body parts. It is generally recommended to wear lead lined glasses and thyroid shields when performing fluoroscopic procedures but techs may not choose to wear these additional protective equipment for various reasons. The hospitals that I’ve been employed in require lead vests to be worn but not thyroid shields or lead lined glasses. Honestly I don’t even know where to find lead lined glasses in my current hospital that I’m allowed to wear (not belonging to a radiologist). So ultimately the head and neck of a radiographer are frequently exposed and since the eyes and thyroid are already sensitive to radiation then they are negatively impacted the most. I hope this helped!
@@SydneyPipp Yes it helps tremendously. thank you so much! I think health issues in this field should be spoken about more often, you don't see much about it.
@@SydneyPippyou would need to buy your own glasses if that’s something you wanted.
Every hospital is different but from what I have seen is general radiology does not supply lead glasses for specific individuals. You may find that a department has a pair of “community” glasses that are shared amongst the entire staff. However, if you are in an interventional radiology or cath lab role I have seen personal issued glasses. This is because these techs are exposed to a lot more radiation than general rad techs.
Sydney Pipp: I was inside in a 2 -divided room for patients where only curtain served as the division. Unknowingly the x-ray technician didn't check that I was with the other patient. She pressed the button for the x-ray when I passed by. Question is, I am planning for a pregnancy 2 years from now, will it affect my fertility or other health condition? Thank you.
There is a six foot rule with X-ray that we should all follow. This is: if you aren’t the one getting the X-ray then you should be 6 feet away from the X-ray tube (the part with the light). You are considered to be unaffected by the scatter radiation at this distance. Even if you were the one getting an x-ray it should not negatively impact your future fertility. I wouldn’t be concerned about this scenario if I were you. 😌
Thank you the enlightenment! ❤@@SydneyPipp
I thought the main reason was the shields keep the scatter from bouncing out thus increase pt dose
This is a good point! I have heard of the theory that using a lead shield essentially "traps" scattered x-ray photons from being ejected from the patient's body resulting in an increase dose. However, the two articles that I referenced were more concerned about obscuring anatomy and covering AEC photocells. I attempted to do more research on the data that has been collected on the "trapped scatter" theory, but I have been unsuccessful thus far on finding solid proof from a reputable source. If you have a link with more information, then I would be glad to look over it!
@@SydneyPipp on another note what do you think is the meta reason for taking the responsiblty of sheilding away from the techs?
Obscuring anatomy and covering photocells on the Bucky are two easily avoidable issues if the technologist is properly shielding their patient. It is their responsibility to ensure that the shield doesn’t cover pertinent anatomy or the photocell. It is also their responsibility to watch their patient as they are making the exposure to ensure the shield does not move out of place. By taking away the requirement to shield they are taking away these responsibilities from the techs. Ultimately there is an issue with techs not paying attention or being careless in shield positioning leading to increased patient dose. Does this answer your question or am I misunderstanding it?
@@SydneyPipp no im asking about what you say at 6:03 starting with "instead of"
Im asking why do you think the recommendation was made to bringing responsibilty away from the techs and instead getting rid of shielding
@@biggooba6706 I feel as though higher ups that are responsible for making these recommendations had two options: either hold the techs accountable for improper shielding (meaning they would be appropriately reprimanded for overexposing their patients) or just take the shields away completely so that mistakes aren’t made on the techs behalf and nobody gets “in trouble”. I have seen plenty of sloppy work from techs over the years and it takes a LOT for someone to be held responsible for their actions. So I feel as though this was the easier route to take as far as recommendations go.
Hi,
I was wondering what schools you recommend for radtech?
I don’t have specific recommendations because I only have experience with two of my local schools. However, look for programs in your area then research what their pass rate is for the ARRT registry.. this will give you an idea on how good their program is. You can also ask specific schools how many students they retain each year (how many students they start with versus how many graduate) which can speak to how their program operates.
How much ur earning ?
Per month
My income varies because I am PRN (as needed) at my pediatric hospital position. However, it is not uncommon for a full-time X-ray tech to bring home $3,500-$4,000 a month after taxes in my area. I have a whole video on my page that goes more in depth with salary if you’re interested in more details.
Your house is so beautiful
Thank you! Always a work in progress 😊