Three More Weeks To Go........

Well I skipped clinicals last week and went to a Mammography class. The class was an eight hour a day week long class. I really enjoyed the class especially the class on MR of the breast since that is what I am focusing on. I had seen a few breast MR's in clinic but did not really understand the whole scope of things. I learned through the class that they are the most detailed modality for the breast however they show alot of false positives and therefore alot of unneeded biopseys are done. Therefore a person should always have there mammo done along with CAD if possible and if needed an Ultrasound should be done before MRI. However it is a wonderful exam for the unknown findings that can't be determined by the other modalities and also for the high risk patients.

They showed us a Womens Clinic that was dedicated to mammography breast imaging only. It also had a dedicated breast ultrasound and a dedicated breast MR scanner. It was awsome, the women would go in feet first and their head would be out. The bore was much shorter in length and the coil and apparatus that they laid on was perfect for the womens body. It looked alot more comfortable for the patient rather then just doing the breast in a regular MR machine. The whole set up was amazing, the patient would only deal with one individual for the whole exam other then the Radiologist. The original tech that performed the mammo would also perform the ultrasound and MR if needed and they are also trying to get passed that they can do clinical breast exams as well. The whole concept was very nice and comforting to a women who is already nervous going in for their exam. I was a little surprized when I found out that the techs did not have to be certified to do the MR's and that there is not a certification for breast MR alone, like there is with breast ultrasound. One of the things I did learn from the class is that I do not regret picking the profession that I did, even though the job market is so bad, because we really do provide the vision from within that saves lives. I was really getting depressed about the job availability and was starting to rethink my career choice and this class came at a perfect time for me.

Well now it is back to reality and back to clinicals next week. I hope that I can pick right back up where I left off. I was working pretty independently before I left, but it seems that whenever I come back from a break of some kind I always am missing a step or two. Post more later, hope everyone is doing well....

Learning the skill of Mipping an image!!!!

Well in this week of clinicals I learned how to MIP images. We seemed to have a majority of MRA's of the brain and neck or carotids. We also had a soft tissue neck which I had not seen before. I have comped out on an MRA of the head but not the carotids. However the tech I was with let me MIP the carotids after she was done with the exam. It will probably be a while before I get to do an MRA of the neck since it involves a perfect timing issue to get the contrast just perfect with the arterial flow, and if you mess it up, you can't go back and redo it. I did see one that got messed up and we had to send everything including the venous flow due to it not being timed right with the contrast. I feel like it was a good thing that I saw that because now I realize how important it is, to get the timing just right.

I feel pretty comfortable with the MRA of the head exam, and I like the mipping part of both the exams. I really think it is fasinateing how you get it to rotate around and head of heels. The detail is wonderful, it reminds me of when I first started x-ray and saw the techs utilize this tool in IR. Back then I really was amazed but had no clue what they were doing or what I was even looking at. It seems amazing how far I have come on this journey and how much I have learned since I started school. I can't help but to wonder what the technology will be like ten years from now in MR and all the other imaging modalities. I am really worried now about the job market and getting all my exams required to be able to sit for the boards, but I am still glad I picked this profession.

Hope everything is going well with everyone, and I will post more later.