One year down, two to go.

G'day

Well, since the last couple of blog entries, much has been happening, but I'm glad to report that all is well, and year 2 of the degree is well and truly underway!

Year 2 started off with clinical placement, and after reading through the second year clinical portfolio's content, it certainly appears that there'll be a lot more work to cover this time around, with stints in CT, Ultrasound and Nuclear Medicine on the agenda. We are, of course, going to be expected to continue to perform basic projections such as chest and extremity X-Rays that were covered in the first year, and in addition to this, we must also become competent in C, T and Lumbar spine examinations, as well as hip, pelvis and shoulder procedures, so it's certainly not going to be for the work shy! Looking back, the year 1 portfolio looks a breeze compared to this year's, so I'm just going to take it all in, focus and work hard. Wish me luck!

Yesterday, we had our first lecture of the year, and it was surprising to see how many students from year one were abscent. I knew some had decided that it wasn't for them, and a couple of others had failed examinations, but there certainly appeared to be a significant drop in numbers which was a little sad. Although I don't know everyone on the course, you kind of get used to seeing familiar faces in lectures, so it was a shame to see certain individuals that I got to know a little throughout last year not being present. Anyway, if you guys happen to read this, I wish you all the best for the future.

Diagnostic Imaging Science 'is aimed at students following the diagnostic imaging pathway in the Inter-professional Scheme for Allied Health. It includes quality assurance practiced in the radiology department, the requirements for digital image processing, design features of dedicated x-ray units, and the role that information technology provides in data manipulation and transmission of the acquired image' The morning session covered types of fluorographic and angiographic equipment used in radiography departments, with the afternoon session covering quality assurance, with topics such as testing of radiological equipment, remedial levels, suspension levels and notification of faults discussed. A nice first day back at lectures, with nothing too hard on the brain to absorb ;)

We now have 6 weeks of lectures before 3 weeks off for Xmas, a week off for revision followed by examinations for all modules commencing early January. I'll go into more detail about the other modules this year as and when we go commence them. I'm pleased to report that towards the end of academic year, I'll be having a stint at a world-renowned London hospital which I'm really looking forward to. My current placement is great, but it'll be good to have a change of scene and experience life as student radiographer at another hospital. All second and third year students are given the opportunity to experience clinical placement at alternative hospitals for a few weeks of the year, and I'm so glad to have been allocated this one. I'm certain it'll be most enlightening.

Well, that's about it for this update, folks. I shall continue to keep you all posted throughout the coming year(s), and will update the blog more often as and when we begin the new modules, and when placement commences once more. It really does feel quite strange typing all this as a scond year student. The first year's gobe SO quickly it's unreal!

Thanks again, to all those that have left messages on here, and to the many emails received from throughout the world. I always make the effort to reply to everyone (when time permits), so if anyone out there wants to get in touch for any reason, feel free to do so! Email addy on the right >>>

It's great to see the blog continuing to attract visitors to the site (4641 and counting as of this morning) so I'm glad you're all enjoying the read, and that it's proving a useful source of information. Due to the steadily increasing amount of traffic coming this way, you may have noticed that I've recently placed some adsense on the blog, so do free to have a 'browse' so to speak ;)

Just stumbled upon this a moment ago: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/ Interesting...

Talk soon...

Update

Hi, people.

Apologies for the lack of updates recently! Summer hols are finished, I've been abroad as mentioned before, and most recently, have been sorting out my portfolio completion, and continuation of the degree. All's OK, and I'm currenlty back at placement and Uni as a second year student.

Very tired after a long day, so plan to update the blog with all the news over the weekend.

Talk soon...

Clinical Portfolio Issue & Holiday

Hi, readers.

Just a brief update.

Without going into detail, and revealing too much about the situation at present - there is, unfortunately, an issue outstanding with regards to having my clinical portfolio signed off enabling me to successfully complete my first year. As much as I would like to divulge more information to you all, I shall refrain from doing so at present until I know the outcome of this myself which will be late August. I will provide a comprehensive update to the blog soon afterwards.

I am currently abroad on holiday, and the internet connection here isn't the fastest in the world, so to all of you that have sent emails and messages - I shall reply to you all when I return.

Hope you're all well,

Speak soon...

Exam results & clinical portfolio submission

Hey, people.........well, I passed all 3 exams! Wahey!

Sorry it's been a while in updating the blog once again, but, as stated in my previous post, it's been a very hectic few weeks, and although the end of the year is in sight, I still have a couple of things left to complete.

Since my last update, I have been on clinical placement once more, and now have just one week left to undertake before the year is over. Placement has been challenging to say the least, but I feel confident in my abilities, and know that I am able, and competent enough to carry out most, if not all X-ray procedures as per the first year's requirements.

Exam results came out last week, and I am really pleased to announce that I passed all 3 with pretty decent results which is a huge relief! All that is left for me to complete now, is my clinical portfolio submission, and one examination re-take in August. The re-take is for the first anatomy examination that I took back in January, and which I narrowly missed a pass on. I am confident that I'll pass this exam, as my anatomical knowledge has grown immensely since that examination, and knowing that I have just passed the more recent advanced anatomy examination, I feel that it'll be no problem at all.

With regards to my clinical portfolio...where do I start!?! I could write a book on the challenges students face in order to get sections of their portfolio signed off, I really could. However, I shall refrain from divulging my thoughts on this subject at the moment due to a, not having submitted it yet (submission is this Tuesday 21st) b, because I'm aware that some staff, tutors and fellow students follow this blog, and are aware that it's written by myself and c, because, as stated right from the outset of this blog, I intend to keep it as professional as possible. There's a fine line etc... I shall, however, keep you all posted about the outcome of my portfolio submission, as well as the one re-take in August in due course, and I'm sure all will turn out just fine.

If anyone is wondering what a clinical portfolio is, it is basically a booklet of competencies and written exercises that you must complete throughout your year on placement. As you progress through the year, various sections are supposed to be signed off by qualified radiography staff, so that you are deemed consistently able enough to perform certain procedures. It has its many challenges, and no doubt some who are reading this will know exactly what I mean. Anyway, as mentioned just now, I shall keep you all updated on this, and I'm sure all will be fine.

Well, there really isn't alot else to report at present, folks. All I can say is that it's been one hell of a year so far, and I shall of course, continue this blog for the next two years right up until I qualify, as that is the ultimate goal after all. I shall update once more, in a week or two in which I shall compose a full reflection of this first year, before relaxing for the summer holidays, yay!

Thank you all again for your many emails. It's always a pleasure to hear how this blog is helping, and guiding so many people out there, and providing them with a running commentary of life as a student radiographer. It is, after all, partly why I started this blog in the first place, so I am really happy that is has helped, and continues to help so many potential students. A special thank you also, to the many radiographers, and other medical staff throughout the world that have emailed messages of encouragement and support throughout the year; thank you, it's appreciated! It's amazing to know that since I started this blog, there have been just shy of 3000 visitors to it from so many different countries (you can view the stats, and visitor locations by clicking on the ClustrMaps app on the homepage) It is continuing to attract new visitors each and every day, so I'm glad you're all finding it an interesting and a valuable source of information. As always, if anyone has any questions, feel free to leave a message within the blog posts comments, or shoot me an email.

An interesting link that I recently stumbled upon about X-ray analysis of speech can be found here: http://www2.ling.su.se/staff/ericsdotter/projects/xray_info.html

Speak soon...

Revision, Examinations and Accident & Emergency

Hi, readers!

Apologises for not updating the blog for a while, but as you can imagine I've been SO busy. The last few weeks have seen me revising for end of year examinations, taking the examinations and undertaking further clinical placement in the accident & emergency department(s) of the hospital. What a crazy 6 weeks it's been.

OK, first off, I'll tell you all about the exams. Well, as mentioned previously there where 3 exams in total: a, Digital Imaging Systems, b, Digital Imaging: Skeletal Radiography, and c, an OSCE. This time around, each exam (apart from the OSCE) was 2 hours in duration and it was really surprising how much more 'work' there was to do in each exam compared to the last set back in January which were 'just' an hour and a half in duration. For the first exam 'Digital Imaging Systems' you had to answer 6 out of 8 questions provided, with each question offering a maximum of 20 marks. For some of the questions, you had to answer just one question; for others, there were between 3 and 5 sub questions. Examples of questions within the exam included: labelling and identifying structures of the colon, patient preparation, and aftercare for a barium meal examination, naming properties of radiographic contrast agent for intravenous injection, identifying, and describing the functions of the urinary system, defining certain chest pathologies, and describing correct radiographic projections for different parts of the body. It was tough, and hard to choose which questions to answer, but all in all, I think (hope) that I answered enough in order to pass. Time will tell...

The second examination 'Digital Imaging: Skeletal Radiography' was also a 2 hour examination, which was in 2 parts: Skeletal Anatomy, and Radiographic Technique. Examples of questions included within the anatomy section were: draw a labelled diagram of the left humerus to show both anterior and posterior views, describe different types of fracture, describe the knee joint to include joint classification, bones, articular surfaces and capsule, describe the process of fracture repair, describe a typical cervical vertebra, and how they differ from thoracic and lumbar vertebra. In the technique section of the exam, we were required to analyse, and describe in full how we'd carry out radiographic examinations for certain patient situations put to us; for example: 'A 36-year-old male presents walking unaided for a plain x-ray examination of his left knee. The request form states; "? Rheumatoid arthritis". Describe the plain radiographic examination of the knee using the following headings a, position of patient and image receptor, b, centering point and direction of central ray, c, patient care, d, radiation protection. Again, this was a difficult exam, but I hope all has gone well!

The final examination was something called an OSCE, which basically involved groups of 6-7 students going into a room to be faced with 10 work stations. You had 5 minutes at each station in which to answer varying questions such as describing radiation protection measures, or to critique a radiograph of a chest and abdomen. Once your 5 minutes was up, the 'buzzer' sounded, and you had to move onto the next station. I think it went pretty well, but you really had to concentrate hard, as you only had 5 minutes at each station, and each question was totally different, so you had to constantly flip your concentration and knowledge levels around for each station. Another tough exam, but rather enjoyable to be honest ;) All the end of year examinations will be marked and ready to view on July 13th, so wish me luck!

Once the examinations were over, it was straight back to clinical placement (no rest for the wicked!) and will be continuous until late July. I think most other degree courses finish for the year around now, so it just shows you that a radiography degree certainly isn't for the workshy!

For the last 4 weeks, I've been based in the accident & emergency department, which has been absolutely fascinating. I've been waiting to have a stint there for some time now, and I'm glad to have finally completed it. I've seen, and learnt so much in that department that it's difficult to remember everything to tell you all. It was extremely interesting to see how 'different' it is and feels working in a&e compared to the general outpatients ward which is where I had spent most of my placement time beforehand. You are being faced with a different set of circumstances in this department, and are (well, for students anyway!) constantly having to adapt and expand your knowledge and technique to cater for the hugely varying types of patient needs and requirements. Producing that all important diagnostic image in a&e can certainly be a real challenge sometimes, but the whole experience was one I'll never forget, and one that I really hope to undergo again in the not too distant future.

As well as a&e ward experience, I also had a week of theatre, and mobile placement. Again, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it all. From fluoro screening a hip replacement procedure in theatre, to X-raying a patient using a mobile machine on a intensive care unit was all fascinating, and the amount you learn each day is incredible. The entire experience was truly enjoyable, and what I saw, and learnt in my time there is going to prove invaluable for the future. A great time!

Well, that's about it for this update, guys n girls, I have 5 weeks left of placement, and then that's pretty much year 1 wrapped up! It's all gone so quickly so far, it's unreal. Bring on year 2!

Catch you soon...

An awesome two weeks

Hi, readers.

Since my last update, I've undergone another busy two weeks of clinical placement, and all's going very well so far.

The Easter holiday seemed to fly by, and apart from a few nights out, most of my time was spent revising for upcoming examinations in June. The past two weeks have seen me working in general X-Ray again, as well as a week in the Interventional Radiology department which was absolutely fascinating.

General X-Ray was, as always a great learning experience, and I am now gradually being given opportunities to take X-Rays by myself unsupervised which is great! (Although all images must be checked by qualified staff afterwards, before they are formally processed ready for reporting etc) Two examinations in particular that I am normally allowed to perform unsupervised now are chest X-Rays, and OPG's – both of which I am now more than confident in carrying out by myself. In addition to these two procedures, I have also taken a couple of hand, foot and wrist X-Rays unsupervised, and as the weeks go by, I'm finding that I am gradually being given more freedom in order to show that I am capable of performing certain examinations solo. Obviously, the majority are still undertaken with supervision, but it's a great feeling to know that the staff feel that I am competent enough to be able to take certain X-Rays without guidance, and also for them to be classed as competent diagnostic images – a great feeling!

This past week, I was based in Interventional Radiology. An extremely interesting, and eye opening time, which saw me assist, and participate in (when required) several procedures such as angiograms, arthrograms, nephrostomy's oesophageal stent insertions and removals, numerous liver biopsies and much, much more! I found it all extremely fascinating, and learnt so much that it is almost hard to remember it all! Watching the radiologists carry out these examinations with such precision and skill is just awesome, and they just make it all look so easy! Most procedures were carried out using a C-Arm image intensifier with others, such as the biopsies carried out using ultrasound technology, and others still; such as oesophageal stent removals, performed using an endoscope. A truly fascinating week working alongside an amazing team of dedicated professionals. Brilliant.

Next week, I think I am based in accident & emergency which I am really looking forward to, as not had a stint in that department yet, so I expect I'll be feeling even more knackered than I am now by this time next week! Being on your feet all day really tires you out, so one thing I am going to do today is purchase a decent pair of black shoes, because, believe me, at the end of the day your feet are crying out for rest, although I'm sure you get used to it after a while!

Well guys n girls, that's about it for this update, so I'll leave you with a few links to check out as usual, before heading off to the shops, and, no doubt, spending a couple of hours in the sunshine.

Talk soon...

http://artsytime.com/x-ray-by-nick-veasey/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7985142.stm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1169861/Shocked-Russian-surgeons-open-man-thought-tumour--FIR-TREE-inside-lung.html

http://www.simplyphysics.com/flying_objects.html

http://inventorspot.com/articles/i_can_see_your_boobs_xray_glasses_become_reality_24729

Clinical Placement

Hi people!

Well, since I was last here I'm pleased to report that I have completed a further two weeks of clinical placement, and all went well.

Clinical placement days and hours are Monday to Thursday from 9am till 4.30pm, giving us Friday and the weekend to 'relax' lol. Although everyone on the course had done a stint of clinical placement last November; after speaking with fellow students this week about how we all got on, I think we were all pretty surprised about how much we had forgotten since last time. When I say forgotten, I mean just little things that radiographers do each and every day as second nature, but which students are likely to forget due to having been away from placement for some time. Still, after a day or two back on the ward, everything learnt previously started to come back, and within a few days it was like I'd never been away.

Week one, saw me working in general X-Ray for the week. Basically seeing to outpatients, and on occasion, patients that had 'dropped in' so to speak, although really they are supposed to be seen by the accident and emergency ward. A fascinating week with me 'working' alongside numerous qualified radiographers, as well as year three students who are allowed to take X-Rays un-supervised. I took numerous chest X-Rays under supervison and assisted in countless examinations of hands, feet, wrists, abdomens, femurs, shoulder girdles and plenty of c, t, and lumbar spines. I really enjoyed the week, and I think everyone I worked alongside with is/was pleased with my progress. It's amazing how much you learn each and every day whilst there...gaining invaluable clinical experience and theory which will really help for my upcoming June examinations. One thing it really will help me with are patient preparation and examination techniques. Most of the patient positioning that I need to learn for the exams are pretty much drilled in now, so it's all been a great help!

Week two was a mix of working in the fluoroscopy department again, as well as learning how to use the main X-Ray department's computer system in order to process patients, deal with doctor's requests and referrals, as well as countless other areas of X-Ray ward administration... something which all radiography staff must be familiar with and able to use competently. Fluoro saw me witnessing plenty of barium enema, meal, follow through and video swallow procedures which never cease to amaze me. Observing live video swallows on the monitor and watching oespohogeal, stomach and intestinal reactions to the liquid amongst fellow student radiographers and doctors is a great experience; one that kinda makes you stand there for a moment and think to yourself "Wow, I'm really here, and a part of all of this" if you know what I mean... It's an awesome feeling.

Well, that's all I have to report at the moment, folks. From tomorrow we have two weeks Easter holiday before approximately 15 weeks of solid clinical placement (bar examinations in June), so I shall of course be updating the blog for you all throughout that period.

Right, I'm off to catch some late afternoon sun, and have a few beers.

Here's some more rad links for you to check out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/medicalmuseum/255076065/

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/03/23/science/032409-Scan_index.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roentgenator/2831644869/in//set-72157601198404570/

Talk soon...