My job: Radiating patience and empathy

Adria White aims to make the MRI experience as painless as possible. Photo / Graeme Sedal

Name: Adria White
Age: 28
Employer: Medical radiation technologist at Middlemore Hospital.
Hours: 8am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday. On call every fourth week.
Average salary: General radiation technology (X-rays etc) $50,000-$80,000. With specialisation: $80,000 upwards.
Qualification: Unitec Bachelor of Health Science in Medical Imaging. Currently studying Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Resonance Imaging (MRI) with Unitec.

What do you do?

I am a medical radiation technologist specialising in MRI; magnetic resonance imaging. My job is to take MRI scans. When a patient comes into the MRI department we greet them and prepare them for their scan by talking about the process and making them as comfortable as possible.

Then we put the patient into the scanner and perform the scan required. A radiologist checks the images and may order further scans to look for other things. Once the radiologist has all the information required, we take the patient off the table.

What kind of clients do you have?

It is a diverse group. We deal with patients of all shapes and sizes and ages, from neonatal to elderly. We get many different nationalities so we use interpreters a lot but we also become pretty good at communicating with our hands.

Patient injuries range from long-term wear and tear to massive car accident and multiple trauma cases.

Your background?

I did first-year law but hated it so I took a year off and reconsidered my career options.

I liked the sound of nursing, because it had lots of people contact but I wanted some kind of technical involvement as well.

Then Mum heard there was a shortage of medical radiation therapists in New Zealand. When I investigated through Unitec, they suggested I visit an X-ray department to get an idea of the work involved. It intrigued me because it looked like it would provide the combination of people contact and technical and scientific involvement I wanted.

Training?

You do a three-year Medical Imaging degree, which involves working two days a week in a radiology department while studying full-time.

It is a tough course. School leavers need NCEA Level 3 physics and maths. People like me have to be able to demonstrate academic ability.

After a couple of years working you can specialise. I qualified in 2003 and I'm now doing postgraduate specialised training in MRI.

What do you enjoy most?

I like ending the day knowing I've helped people, and a good day's work means I've got through as many patients as possible while making the experience as painless as possible.

Skills and experience needed?

Empathy and emotional maturity are really important. So are organisational skills, patience and a sense of humour. You need to be able to think outside the square. Our job is to get good images, even if the patient has breathing problems, or panic attacks, or is struggling to lie flat. The more we can reassure and relax patients, the better the images.

What is an MRI like?

You lie in what is like a small tunnel. It feels very closed in around your head and some people can get claustrophobic. The machine makes loud knocking noises when acquiring the images. We try and make it less daunting with eye masks or headphones playing relaxing music. We can talk through the headphones between scans to reassure patients.

The shortest scan is 20 minutes; some take up to 1 hours. As part of our training we experience the MRI. I don't believe you can put people into one until you know how it feels yourself.

How safe is the work environment?

Very safe! The whole department is lead-lined and we all wear small dose meter badges that detect any radiation we might come in contact with.

Challenges?

The huge range of patients can be a challenge, particularly trying to get them to follow instructions when they're nervous or need an interpreter.

Keeping up with scan requests within a shift is another challenge. We have to prioritise and take into consideration the patient's medical condition and urgency, which can take some juggling.

Advice?

Do you enjoy being busy, like physics and science and want a job that involves communicating with patients? A visit to a radiology department is a good way to get a feel for the work. This is part of the degree application process and will be organised by Unitec.

Where do you want to be in five years' time?

I'll continue working on getting better and faster and learning as much as possible about the pathologies (diseases and conditions). The more I understand, the more useful I can be.

An advanced practitioner role is slowly being developed for the radiographer that may involve doing some of the radiologist's basic work. I'm quite interested in that.