Road to Radiography

I had another good day at clinical today. I logged another 14 procedures, which takes my total for the semester up to 230. I need 10 more procedures to get the maximum grade on that section of this class, so I might get that completed tomorrow. If not tomorrow, Tuesday for sure.

I got my required pre-comp for the paranasal sinuses today. I was drooling over that order when it rolled off the printer. Its the first time I have seen one, so I needed to do it. The routine at this clinical site for the paranasal sinuses is a Waters, PA, Lateral, and Submentovertex. I knocked each of these out without any problems. I have had the opportunity to shoot the first three of these positions in the past, but today was the first time I was able to try the SMV. My SMV wasn’t 100% perfect though, but it was very close. If you are familiar with this position, you know it can be hard for the patient to hold. I’m confident that my positioning was correct because I double-checked it under supervision before I shot the image. I think my patient moved just slightly before the tube fired. What we needed to see was clearly visible on the image though, so it was successful.

Another interesting part of my day involved my first interaction with a known HIV/AIDS patient. The concept is a bit unnerving in the beginning, but after everything was said and done, it was just another exam. I didn’t do anything any differently than I would with any other patient.