Road to Radiography

Patient Care in Radiography: $56.00

Introduction to Radiologic Sciences and Patient Care: $58.00

Merrill’s Pocket Guide to Radiography: $29.25

Medical Terminology: A Programmed Systems Approach: $90.75

The Radiography Procedure and Competency Manual: $37.25

Textbook of Radiographic Positioning and Related Anatomy: $146.00

NO PICTURE AVAILABLE

 

Radiographic Positioning and Related Anatomy Workbook and Lab Manual: $74.00

This list ends the REQUIRED texts for my classes. I’m not sure if these books are good for multiple semesters, but I’m sure that some of them are. The Grand Total with tax on the required texts is:

$525.64

Additional items that I purchased while in the bookstore:

Mechanical Pencil: $3.50

Extra Lead for Mechanical Pencil: $2.00

Extra Erasers for Mechanical Pencil: $1.25

Four Sharpie Highlighter Pens: $4.00

Bantam Medical Dictionary: $7.50

Academic Year Day Planner: $4.50

1″ 3-ring zipper Binder: $16.25

Three wirebound notebooks: $10.50

Accessories Total:

$52.97

Grand Total spent at the bookstore today: $578.61

In past classes, with a few exceptions, I have been able to sell my books back to the bookstore at the end of the semester for up to 50% of what I paid for them new. These books, however, will remain in my library for reference. I also kept my Anatomy & Physiology book ($168.00) from the two semesters of that class I had last year.

Thank God for Pell Grants!

 

Tags: 1st Semester, Preliminary by John Setzler
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I had my first Hepatitis B immunization yesterday morning at the local Health Department.  I have my student medical history and physical paperwork completed.  I have my CPR training finished.  All I have to do now is go turn that paperwork in.  The original deadline for that paperwork is tomorrow, but they said we had some unspecified amount of extra time.  I’m going to deliver that to the school tomorrow though, and then I have absolutely nothing else to do until August 9th when I can go purchase my books for the semester.  Everything else is in place.  I have three more weeks until classes start.

I started a new part-time job at AC Moore yesterday in their custom framing department.  I worked from 4-9 and I have to work from 530-9 tonight.  They haven’t given me the rest of my schedule for the week yet, but I’m going to ask them for that tonight if it hasn’t been done already.  I still plan to make myself available to the newspaper when I’m not working this job, but I need that schedule to give them. 

Unless something comes up between now and August 9th, I probably won’t post again until I get my textbooks. 

 

Tags: Preliminary by John Setzler
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I went to my 10:15 appointment at the local county health department to get my first Hepatitis B immunization this morning.  That went off without a hitch.  I arrived early, waited about 5 minutes, and was finished before my actual appointment time.  My next shot of the three-shot series is scheduled for Friday, August 31st at 1pm.  The knot on my left arm from the Tetanus vaccination hasn’t completely gone away yet, so I got the shot in the other arm, and it’s starting to hurt now.. lol :)

I’m still counting down the days until classes start on August 20th… I’m ready to go and it seems like it will be forever now…

Tags: Preliminary by John Setzler
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I went to the doctor’s office this afternoon for my PPD skin test and a Tetanus shot.  I was in and out in 10 minutes, which I think is probably a record-breaking speed on any doctor’s visit I have ever had.   The rest of my required immunizations are all in order and I’ll have that paperwork completed on Friday.  The initial deadline for turning in my documentation of a physical and immunization is on August 1, but we were told that we would be given a little extra time on that if we need it.  I sent my department head an email today informing him of my status in this process.  The doctor wants me to get the Hepatitis B immunization series as well, but he doesn’t administer those to adults.  He suggested that I call the local health department and make an appointment for that.  I called them when I got home and made an appointment for Monday to get the first shot.  I’ll have to have the second shot approximately one month later, and then the final shot will come about 5 months after that.  I just need to make sure that I get the records of the Hepatitis B immunizations back to my doctor for my file.  It’s been a lot of work getting all these records together.  I will need them again in the very near future.  Some of the hospitals and offices where I’ll be doing clinical work require this documentation as well, and I don’t want to have to go through all the hassle again. 

Tags: Preliminary by John Setzler
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Canyon de Chelly - Arizona - Taken on May 12, 2007 during a 6-mile hike through part of the canyon…

 

I knew I would never get out of this… After digging for my immunization records, it does seem that the basic immunizations are all in place, but I have to go tomorrow afternoon for a Tetanus and Hepatitis shots, and a TB skin test.  I’m not afraid of shots, but I just hate getting them.  I have never had a Hepatitis immunization, but I completely understand why I need it.  I probably should be looking for any immunizations I can get.  Getting these should complete my physical and immunization requirements that I need to get turned in by August 1st.  We were told that we would be allowed some extra time on that, but I just want to get mine turned in and get all these requirements behind me.  I’m ready for classes to start.  That’s still almost a month away though…

Tags: Preliminary by John Setzler
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Fall 2007		Class	Lab	Clin	Credit
BIO-168	Basic Anatomy & Physiology	3	3		4
ENG-111	Expository Writing	3	0		3
RAD-110	Rad Intro & Patient Care	2	3		3
RAD-111	Rad Procedures I	3	3		4
RAD-151	Rad Clinical Ed I	0	0	6	2
Spring 2008
BIO-169	Anatomy & Physiology II	3	3		4
PSY-150	General Psych	3	0		3
RAD-112	Rad Prodedures II	3	3		4
RAD-121	Rad Imaging I	2	3		3
RAD-161	Rad Clinical Ed II	0	0	15	5
Summer 2008
ENG-114	Prof Research & Reporting	3	0		3
RAD-122	Rad Imaging II	1	3		2
RAD-131	Rad Physics I	1	3		2
RAD-171	Rad Clinical Ed III	0	0	12	4
Fall 2008
RAD-211	Rad Procedures III	2	3		3
RAD-231	Rad Physics II	1	3		2
RAD-251	Rad Clinical Ed IV	0	0	21	7
MUS-110	Music Appreciation	3	0		3
Spring 2009
RAD-241	Radiation Protection	2	0		2
RAD-245	Radiographic Analysis	2	3		3
RAD-261	Rad Clinical Ed V	0	0	21	7

The classes with the strike-through are the ones I have completed already. The Music Appreciation class was my choice of a Humanities elective. Professional Research & Reporting was my choice of a couple English classes that were acceptable for this program.

My schedule this coming semester is slightly strange, but I don’t think it’s going to be too bad. I’ll be in classes on Mondays from 10am until Noon. On Tuesdays, I’ll have classes from 11am until 4pm. On Wednesdays, I’ll have classes from 10am until 4pm. On Thursdays I’ll have clinical work from 8am until 2pm. Fridays will be open this semester, but I expect Fridays to be used for clinical work in the spring semester.

NING.COM

If you are a student in a Radiography program (or any program for that matter), you might want to check out the website NING.COM. This is a social networking website sorta like MySpace or FaceBook, but it’s very different as well. You can create your own social network and make it public or private (by invitation only.) You can set up message boards and various other things that will make an excellent collaboration point for students in your class. I have set up one for my class and I hope that several, if not all members, will participate and find it to be a useful tool.

Tags: Preliminary by John Setzler
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First of all, since I’m a photographer, I will probably be posting a random photo of some sort to go along with each of my blog entries.  The photo may or may not have anything at all to do with my post :)  I just like to look at them…

Ok…  Here we go!

I have spent the last two semesters in school preparing for entry into the Radiography program at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, North Carolina.  There are two community colleges in my area that offer Radiography, so I had a choice to make.  Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute in Hudson, North Carolina offers the program as well.  There are some differences between the two schools though.  I hope I have made the right choice of schools.  There are pros and cons to my choice, but I hope that everything will work out in the long run.  CCC&TI has an accredited program and CVCC does not.  I’m sure CVCC is working towards that, but they haven’t gotten there yet.  CCC&TI takes 20 or 25 students per year into their program on a waiting list basis.  CVCC takes 10 students per year into their program on an academic achievement basis.  The waiting list at CCC&TI would not give me the opportunity to go there until 2009 at the earliest, so I chose not to apply there until I found out whether or not I would be accepted at CVCC. 

Both programs at these schools have the same prerequisites though.  In order to apply to the program, you must have completed two semesters of English, two semesters of Anatomy & Physiology, one semester of General Psychology, and one semester of a Humanities elective.  In my past college experience, I was only able to transfer one English class into this set of requirements because I took the Literature route instead of the writing route back then. 

I enrolled in classes for the fall semester of 2006 and got started knocking out the requirements.  I also took a few extra classes during the process.  After everything was said and done, I completed 31 hours in two semesters with a 4.0 GPA.  I also scored very well on the PSB exam, which is another requirement for entry into the program.  I was above the 93rd percentile in every category, and at 98th percentile in two of them.  Since CVCC’s program admission is based mainly on academics, I figured the only thing that would keep me out is if someone just didn’t like me. 

In early June, I received a certified letter telling me that I had been accepted into the program.  Orientation was scheduled for July 19th.  I was also required to have a physical examination and provide documentation of my immunizations.  I have had the physical already, but finding immunization records when my mother doesn’t have them stashed away somewhere proved to be a challenge.  I went to the city schools administration office to see if they had anything.  They did have some records, so I collected those and took them to my doctor’s office.  He’s going to have to take a look at those and see what requirements I meet and what additional shots in the ass I may need.  All I know for sure is that I’m probably going to require a Tetanus shot.  It’s been significantly over 10 years since I have had one.  I’m hoping that I’m OK on the rest of those requirements.

On Saturday, I attended an 8-hour CPR certification course that is required of all students in this program as well.  We have to maintain that certification throughout the program, and probably forever as long as we are working in the medical field.

Orientation Day - July 19th, 2007

I went to the orientation session on Thursday.  I got the chance to meet the instructors, the other nine students in my class, and we also got to meet the second-year students.  We were given another set of paperwork, including a list of things we needed to buy.  We need scrubs and white shoes for clinicals, lead markers, a scientific calculator, and a few other miscellaneous items.  I have the calculator already, but I have ordered the school logo scrub top and lab coat that they require.  I am going to get the pants in the next couple days.  We were told which classes to register for, and I did that online that night and paid the tuition the next day.  I will buy my books for the program sometime during the week before classes start.  I went by the bookstore to see what they had, and the shelves were empty except for the price tags… I’m gonna have to buy over $400 worth of books.  I’m hoping that they are good for at least two semesters. 

So…

This is where I am now.  Classes don’t start for me until August 20th.  I am not taking any classes during the summer session, so I have had a lot of free time on my hands.  The work I’m doing in photography hasn’t been significant this summer since I mainly shoot sports for the local newspaper.  In fact, it’s been so bad that I have decided to basically give that up for now and get a regular part time job that I can work while I’m in school.  I start that job on July 30th.  I just hope it’s not too much.  I do require some amount of income while I’m in school :)

Tags: Preliminary by John Setzler
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