Latest / Cat Scan Guru Podcast / EP. 91 The Difference Between a Busy CT Tech and a Skilled CT Tech

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EP. 91 The Difference Between a Busy CT Tech and a Skilled CT Tech · Cat Scan Guru Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello, hello, welcome back everybody.
• 0:02
  Welcome back to the CAT Scan Guru podcast.
• 0:06
  Welcome back everybody. If this is your first time
• 0:08
  listening to this podcast. Hi, welcome.
• 0:12
  My name is Karina. I am a registered CT
• 0:15
  technologist. I have 20 plus years of
• 0:18
  experience in CT. I've worked in all aspects of
• 0:21
  CT, whether it's trauma in you know, acute care, outpatient,
• 0:26
  you name it. I'm very proficient in cardiac
• 0:28
  scanning, CT procedures and all the hard CT exams that every
• 0:33
  tech does not like to take because all the complicated
• 0:35
  cases they give them to me because I know how to figure
• 0:38
  them out. So I am also a mom to special
• 0:41
  needs kids and I also run another brand that has nothing
• 0:44
  to do with radiology. So I am just the Jack of all
• 0:48
  trades when it comes to stuff. So if this is your first time
• 0:51
  listening, welcome. Thank you for subscribing and
• 0:55
  listening to the podcast because we talk about all the CT things
• 0:58
  here and how I create different types of topics to help those
• 1:04
  new incoming CT technologists that are completely lost in CT
• 1:09
  because we all know that CT and the training structure is not
• 1:13
  adequate. So I felt that it was my mission
• 1:17
  and vision to help the incoming generation of technologists to
• 1:21
  be the best technologists they can be.
• 1:23
  Also, if you don't know yet, if you haven't been following along
• 1:27
  on TikTok, I'm pretty sure most of you have.
• 1:29
  I have at least a CT protocol guide, so it's core CT
• 1:34
  protocols. It's 10 different protocols to
• 1:36
  get you going in your training to help you out.
• 1:40
  It also is bundled up with two courses, a contrast course and a
• 1:44
  common CT exams and protocols course along with a 10 episode
• 1:49
  audio series that you can listen to on the go to dominate your CT
• 1:54
  training. All that is available.
• 1:56
  You can get a digital version of the protocol guide or a physical
• 2:01
  version of the protocol guide. So everything is listened in the
• 2:04
  show notes. So go check it out and go get
• 2:06
  your guide today. Also, I drop a lot of protocol
• 2:10
  breakdowns. It's a short breakdown of each
• 2:12
  protocol on my TikTok channel. So make sure you follow along on
• 2:16
  TikTok at the Cat Scan Guru, my YouTube channel.
• 2:19
  I also have that where I drop more educational long form
• 2:23
  videos. The video portion of the podcast
• 2:25
  is on the YouTube channel as well, and I do create longer
• 2:31
  form protocol breakdowns on my YouTube channel.
• 2:35
  So I have started doing that. So make sure you guys subscribe
• 2:38
  to the YouTube channel. So thank you so much if this is
• 2:41
  your first time listening and thank you to everybody that
• 2:43
  continues to support and follow the show.
• 2:47
  So let's get into today's episode.
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  Today's episode is the difference between a busy tech
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  and a skilled CT tech. Being busy does not equal being
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  skilled. That's just going to light a
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  fire in everybody's ass here, and that's OK.
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  So there is a difference between being a busy tech versus being
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  somebody who's skilled. OK.
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  So think of the comparison like this.
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  There is a difference between a textbook tech and a tech that
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  knows what they're doing in the room.
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  So those two analogies do kind of go together because that was
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  a analogy that was given to me many, many years ago when I was
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  shadowing if I actually wanted to go to our X-ray school.
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  And one of the X-ray just had told me that that there's a
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  difference between a textbook tech, somebody that's book smart
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  and somebody that can go into that room and know exactly what
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  they're doing and said, you want to be tech B, the one that knows
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  exactly what they're doing in that room.
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  OK, So one of the common problems that I see is there's
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  this constant motion and hustle and bustle in CT department and
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  there's inadequate, inadequate training making the skill set.
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  And there's a lot, lot of gaps in that skill set.
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  OK. So it's masking that skill set.
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  And then there's a lot of learning gaps and technologists
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  are not learning what they need to know so they can operate
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  independently. So there's a lot of factors that
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  come into that. So I'm going to explain a few of
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  them. So, you know, there's very high
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  volumes in CT, there is high capacity and high demand for
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  every exam under the sun because you know, they order those ER
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  exams like it's going out of style, like the world is going
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  to end today. So, you know, everybody that
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  walks in the door needs at least three or four CTS.
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  So texts sometimes confuse that high volume and that fast pace
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  as being skilled. And that's really not the case.
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  OK. And then multitasking, listen,
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  our brains can't remember everything.
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  And multitasking does not make you skilled, OK?
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  It just says you're doing one too many things at a time.
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  And then you can make a fucking mistake.
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  And then guess what? It harms somebody.
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  You know, the patient gets harmed.
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  The, you know, the patient has a reaction, the patient, you know,
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  something happens to the IV. So you can't multitask because
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  you have to focus with one. You have to focus on one task at
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  a time, guys. OK.
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  So there's a lot of factors that come into that because CT is a
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  very complex department. There's a lot of moving parts.
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  And The thing is, is there is such high volumes and such high
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  capacities that a lot of times it's hard to meet those demands
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  from those emergency rooms, you know, the floor patients, the
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  ICU, things like that. So what's happens when you're
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  trying to multitask and be fast-paced and you're confusing
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  this with high volumes and, you know, thinking, oh, well, it's,
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  you know, I'm a busy tech. I'm a skill tech.
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  No, what happens is, is you get burnt out and exhausted and then
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  it doesn't give you an opportunity to really focus on
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  your growth and skill set. And then you are repeating
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  habits that are not needed. Listen, multitasking is not
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  needed, OK? Because you can't do three
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  things at once and then expect each thing to be correct.
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  For humans, we make mistake. We can only focus on one task at
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  a time. I know I I can't OK, I cannot
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  focus on 50 million things. I have to focus on one task, OK.
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  And then there's this thing where there's limited advanced
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  opportunities. Listen, I have seen TikTok
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  videos of people saying that there are limited opportunities
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  in radiology. That is such bullshit because it
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  is. And I know one of my mutuals in
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  the same space has made an entire series about how you can
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  advance when it comes to careers in radiology.
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  OK, CT is an amorizon advancement IR Cath lab.
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  I have seen, you know, different types of people that I went to
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  X-ray school with. Some of them work in public
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  health with pH D's. Okay.
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  There are people that have advanced into IT roles, PAX
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  administration, educators, managers, some of them have
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  become CEOs of the hospital. There are so many advancements
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  that you can do and we're not limited.
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  Okay, so the one thing that we have to start doing is we need
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  to have skill based metrics and the way that the pace that we
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  operate in needs to be, you know, within what we can handle
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  in the department. OK, so skill based metrics.
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  So we're talking about, you know, your workflow efficiency,
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  you know your scan accuracy, communication skills, you know
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  how well you adapt, you know how well you're learning all the
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  material and making sure that you learn the foundation and the
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  core basics of CT and how to operate.
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  You know those exams and get optimal exams and making sure
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  you're positioning the patient correctly, right?
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  Those are the things as far as skills and the metrics that are
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  needed. It's just like the foundation of
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  a house. You have to have a foundation
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  and a structure for training those incoming technologists,
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  those new technologists, and even a technologist that's a
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  traveler, brand new traveler. Now let's say they've got 1-2
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  years experience and they're brand new.
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  This can help them too. OK, So what happens with all
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  that is you get long term career leverage.
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  Like you can leverage it and you can have opportunities open up
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  for you. You know, there's leadership
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  potential. Like I explained, I have seen
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  lots of people that have gone to X-ray school that have
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  leadership positions, OK, it is possible.
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  Anything is possible. You know, you can be one of the,
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  you know, get on to the, you know, medical device companies
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  like Stryker. I've seen techs that that do
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  that job. OK.
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  So there are a wealth of opportunities for you,
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  especially in leadership roles. And then you get more stronger
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  clinical knowledge when you go ahead and you have those skill
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  matrix, you have that proper training structure and you have
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  that flow. OK, So and then you boost your
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  learning potential because we need to continue educating
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  ourselves because there's new things that come out all the
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  time. Look, AI, we use AI and
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  radiology. I know we use a third party AI
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  vendor to create all of our perfusion maps for stroke.
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  As technologists, we don't have to do that piece anymore.
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  So AI tends to, you know, help out when it's needed.
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  So that we can work a little bit faster.
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  We're already taking time to scan the patient and timing is
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  crucial when it comes to those stroke protocols.
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  So we contract a third party AI company that has AI software to
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  make sure they create those perfusion maps.
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  Now, I have to say, sometimes it does screw up and somebody
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  manually has to create those maps because the AI went ahead
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  and, you know, constructed the wrong maps.
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  It happens, OK, it's a program, OK, So there is room for error.
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  So then we have to call and say, hey, we need this match reworked
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  because it's on the wrong side, you know, so there are a lot of
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  opportunities and learning potentials that we need to stay
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  on top of, especially, you know the latest and greatest in the
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  trends that are going on in CT and radiology.
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  So those are the things that we need to do so that we don't have
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  these gaps in our skill set. There's no gaps in our training.
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  And don't be just a busy technologist.
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  Be a skilled 1 and a skilled 1 takes their, you know, don't be
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  busy, busy, busy and try to be fast-paced, like takes, you
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  know, everything with time and is efficient because we want
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  efficiency, not speed, OK, because speed will come.
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  You just have to be efficient first and making sure you're
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  accurate and communicate and there's a lot of opportunities
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  that can open up for you, especially when you have skill
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  set and you go ahead and continue learning and educating
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  yourself. OK, If you're serious about
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  being skilled and making sure that you are, just hone in on
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  your CT training and not just a busy tech, the protocol guide
• 11:19
  bundle is your go to. So make sure you go get that
• 11:23
  bundle so that you can start implementing some of the things
• 11:26
  that I teach within your CT training.
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  So it's in the show notes. Go get you the bundle today.
• 11:33
  So that is it for our podcast episode for today.
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  So make sure you get your protocol bundle.
• 11:39
  You can get a digital or a physical copy of it.
• 11:43
  Make sure you follow on TikTok and subscribe to the YouTube
• 11:45
  channel, subscribe to the podcast show so that you can get
• 11:49
  the latest episodes when they drop.
• 11:51
  So thank you so much for listening and I will chat with
• 11:53
  you guys in the next episode.