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EP. 86 CT Isn't Hard, It's Taught Incorrectly · Cat Scan Guru Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello, hello, welcome back everybody.
• 0:01
  Welcome back to the Cat Scan Guru podcast.
• 0:04
  So glad to be doing podcast episodes again.
• 0:09
  I know sometimes when it comes to being a content creator,
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  being a podcaster, anything, a YouTube, sometimes the burnout
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  factor is real. And sometimes we do need to take
• 0:20
  a pause and just kind of, you know, get out of the social
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  media space and just so we can come back fresh and just
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  passionate about what we do. And sometimes these breaks are
• 0:32
  needed. Me for example, you know, I am a
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  mom to special needs kids and you know, with running a
• 0:38
  business and just doing all the things in my life, it is a lot.
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  And sometimes we just have to take a little step back because
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  the burn off factor is real. Like I said.
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  So really strange weather going on in the state of Illinois.
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  Like today it's like 60° and it's February and usually it's
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  snowing and cold here in the state, usually in February.
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  I am not a Midwest person by any chance because I grew up in the
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  West Coast and one of these days I hope to get back to the West
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  Coast because this is just not my jam.
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  So let's do a little housekeeping before we get into
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  today's episode. So if you guys haven't been
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  following me on TikTok, I strongly recommend that you
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  follow me on TikTok because I have announced that I have
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  finally released the core CT protocols guide.
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  So this is a survival like guide for you new CT technologists or
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  even if you're new to traveling, because I know lots of texts,
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  you know, they get their one to two years experience and they go
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  out there and travel. So this is for you as well.
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  Now disclaimer, this is merely a reference.
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  It is not to replace your site's protocol, radiologist
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  recommendations or anything of that sort.
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  This is something that you can use as a reference to help you
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  within your CT training and to make you be the best
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  technologist you can. So I have been working on this
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  for months, making sure that I give you just the nitty gritty
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  didn't want to make it very complicated.
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  I know some of my mutuals on TikTok did not know that I had
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  released this and they were like, where did I miss this?
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  So I did do a video about that of responding to one of my
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  mutual's comments and she's awesome in the space too.
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  So if you are interested in this guide, which I know once I
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  released it last week, 20 people bought like just right out of
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  the gate. And so I have a transition to a
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  print on demand because the demand is getting higher and I
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  cannot spend a lot of time trying to make these guides
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  because it takes a lot of time and you know, as far as being a
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  mom and things like that. So I have streamlined all that.
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  So if you are interested in the guide, so there's two ways that
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  you can get this, you can get a physical copy of the guide or
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  you can get a digital version, either one that you choose.
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  You will also get 2 courses that I go ahead and teach.
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  So one course is a common CT exams and protocols and the
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  second one is a course designed to talk about all about contrast
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  media. Along with that, you will also
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  get a 10 episode bonus audio series.
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  It's the CT tech cheat code where you can dominate your
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  training. I drop 10 episodes on some
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  things that you can dominate your training with.
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  So you will get all three of those things inside a private
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  school community. OK, so once you purchase it,
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  you'll get the link to join the community and start, you know,
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  learning something as far as protocols, exams and contrast
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  media and how to dominate your training.
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  So it's all on demand courses. There's an app for the school
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  room so you can make it on the go and listen and whichever 1
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  you choose. So if you choose the digital
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  version, it's 4499. If you choose the physical copy
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  of the guide along with the courses and everything, it is
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  5499. If you're interested in that,
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  the link is in the show notes and you can go ahead and get
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  your learn on with CT. So super excited about this.
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  It took me a while to kind of get this all together so I can
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  release it so it would be available to everybody.
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  Felt that there was a need in it and when there is a need, I tend
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  to go ahead and say, OK, what did I need as a technologist 20
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  years ago that you know, the younger generation can use now.
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  So, so far this has been a very, very good thing and I hope that
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  everybody learns something from it.
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  Also, I am putting up more educational videos on the
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  YouTube channel, so make sure you guys check that out as well.
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  I will be doing like breakdowns of every CT protocol on my
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  YouTube channel. So that has been one of the
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  things that has been requested along with like registry review
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  study material. So those things are going to be
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  going up on the YouTube channel as well.
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  So make sure you guys subscribe to the podcast.
• 5:17
  I can't tell you how thankful I am for you guys continuing to
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  listen and make sure you subscribe to the YouTube
• 5:23
  channel. Also follow along on TikTok
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  because I post a lot of good TikTok content and make sure
• 5:29
  that you follow on Instagram. I'm starting to kind of revamp
• 5:32
  Instagram a little bit just so I don't burn out on that as well.
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  So everything will be in the show notes.
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  Make sure you guys check that out.
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  So in today's episode we are going to be talking about CT
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  isn't hard, it's just taught incorrectly.
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  So what I'm going to be discussing is, is why CT feels
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  overwhelming when it doesn't really need to be.
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  Now we all know as technologist that CT is a very complex
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  modality. There's a a lot of moving parts,
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  there's a ship, ton of protocols.
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  There is a lot going on when it comes to CT and it's very, very
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  complex. It's very complicated sometimes
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  when it really doesn't need to be OK.
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  The problem is, is that we overemphasize a lot of
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  memorization, OK? And we fail to give these
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  technologists that are coming in transitioning especially a lot
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  from X-ray or from CT programs or even a traveler that has
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  never been to your site that we just overemphasize just
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  memorizing everything with 0 structure, OK?
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  And we're not really showing technologists how exams are done
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  and not having them sit down behind the console, behind the
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  computer and teaching them, OK, you're supposed to do XY and Z,
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  you're supposed to do this. You're supposed to do that.
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  We're not really honing in on that structure.
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  And I think that's why a lot of technologists feel behind or
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  they feel they weren't trained adequately.
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  So another problem that we have is information overlap.
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  Like I just explained, we have a ton of protocols.
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  There is so much to remember. Do you think in your right mind
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  that your brain can remember every single protocol that
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  exists out there? Because there's so many
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  protocols getting added, so many exams that are new that are
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  getting added, that radiologists are saying, well, I went to this
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  comp, we should be doing this. So there is a huge thing when it
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  comes to overloading in information where your brain
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  cannot remember everything, Scans that are inconsistent.
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  So what I mean by inconsistent is it's the wrong exam for
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  whatever clinical diagnosis it is.
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  It is clipping, anatomy, field of view is off, patient
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  centering is off. So things of that nature where
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  scans are being inconsistently done or you're not scanning the
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  appropriate body part, you're thinking you're knowing well,
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  it's supposed to be this, but it should be this and not really
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  clarifying or asking the questions.
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  Is this really what we need to be doing?
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  OK. And then my all time favorite,
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  because I drill this into you, into your brain, and I talked
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  about this in almost every TikTok video that I put out
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  there is ISO centering. Listen, we have to get it right
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  when it comes to ISO centering. That's why laser lights on a CD
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  scanner exist because I see a lot of crappy ISO centering that
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  you're just thinking, you know, where you're ISO centering and
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  you're not doing it properly. I did an excellent TikTok video
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  on patient centering, which I will go ahead and link in the
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  show notes about how. And I give you a visual diagram
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  of why patient centering is crucial and why your scouts need
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  to be properly centered because radiation dose is a factor.
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  And then making sure that all the anatomy that you need is in
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  that field of view. Because if you just scout and
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  say fuck it, this is just what I'm going to do and things lie
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  outside of the scout. If you really think that the
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  scanner is going to allow you to scan that it's out of the field
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  of view. OK, which I probably will do a
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  video about display field of view and scan field of view,
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  because they're two different things.
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  So that's why ISO centering is important.
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  And there seems to be a huge problem with that or we're not
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  teaching that properly. OK.
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  And then falling, excuse me, you know, feeling like you're slow
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  or you're unsure of yourself or that you're not going to catch
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  up to everybody. Listen, I've said this in a
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  previous podcast episode is that it doesn't matter your pace, OK?
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  What matters is, is that you do the exam correctly, OK?
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  And a lot of people's learning curves are different than
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  others. Some people pick up the modality
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  faster, some need more time. You have to operate at your own
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  pace and you have to feel confident that, listen, I may
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  not be too familiar with this exam, but I'm going to perfect
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  it and I'm going to keep, you know, making sure that I do it
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  correctly, making sure you get those reps in, that's what we
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  call it, or making sure that you practice because that is the big
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  thing. Repetition and practice makes
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  you more of a experienced tech and you know what you're doing
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  OK, now with all these pain points that I just explained.
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  So what is the result of this? Well, you get burnt out, you
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  panic, you get overwhelmed. Instead of feeling like you're
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  learning, No, you feel behind, you feel short and you're not
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  grasping the concept of why we do certain exams the way we do
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  or why this volume of contrast is given or why we have to
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  inject at this flow rate. That's what happens when we are
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  not teaching the younger generation and the incoming
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  technologists that want to learn the proper way.
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  OK, we have to go back to the basics.
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  CT training is very important. So the key takeaways is, is that
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  we need to have structure in our training program.
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  Sometimes I wish we could go back to those hospital based
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  training programs because those seem to have worked.
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  But of course because they're now branched out and there's CT
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  programs in colleges, I think when they do their clinical
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  rotation, I don't think it's enough.
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  And that's just my own personal perspective.
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  I think there needs to be more because when you are set and
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  you're working in the hospital area, in a clinical area, you
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  have to have some kind of structure to your training
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  program. Have a checklist, have some kind
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  of sign off where they say OK, you learn XY and ZI don't think
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  six weeks of training is enough. I think between 8 to 12 weeks is
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  sufficient to know your core exams, know exactly how to scan
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  them because we do have core exams that get ordered like
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  water and we scan these common exams in these core exams every
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  single freaking day because use your, your head without your PE
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  study and an abdomen pelvis with whether it's a CTA or
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  regardless. That's why I incorporated this
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  CT reference guide with core protocols to kind of, you know,
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  educate you on what are some of the things that you will see
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  while you're training. I think we have to go back to
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  just the basics and making sure that our technologists know the
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  basics of the core exams because those are the bread and butter.
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  And that's where you need to start.
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  What we need to do, what you need to do as a technologist to
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  stop guessing, use proper structure when I meet proper
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  structure, proper centering, use your laser light, making sure
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  you set up that scout correctly. Make sure you have all the, you
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  know, necessary anatomy in that field of view.
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  So using proper structure and then making sure that, OK, This
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  is why I'm doing this and take notes.
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  Notes are very important. I can tell you in my office here
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  where I'm recording my podcast, there are CT books sitting right
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  here. There is a entire tub of
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  radiology books, CT notes, you know, notebooks that I, that I
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  acquired over the years. I have it all because sometimes
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  I do have to refer back to them and say, OK, well, I know I, I
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  remember this and XY and Z, let me look this up because my brain
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  can't keep everything and I just can't remember everything.
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  And plus, I'm over 45, so you can't expect me to remember.
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  But stop guessing if you don't know, ask a question, OK?
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  Ask a question. Make sure that, hey, this is
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  what I don't understand. So that the technologist who's
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  training you, educating you, they know how to go ahead and
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  answer your question. If they don't, they can get
• 13:43
  somebody else who will. OK.
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  So that's why I've created this guide.
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  Make sure you check out the show notes for this guide because
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  it'll guide you in the CT protocols that are core that you
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  need to know as a new technologist because it is the
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  basics and we need to have more structure in our training
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  programs. So that is it for today's
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  episode. So make sure you check out and
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  grab the guide, whether it's digital or a physical copy along
• 14:09
  with those courses and that audio series.
• 14:12
  Everything is in the show notes. Make sure you follow me on
• 14:14
  TikTok for all your protocol needs and subscribe to the
• 14:18
  YouTube channel. Make sure you like, share
• 14:20
  comments, share this on podcast episode or even the show with
• 14:24
  somebody that needs to hear it. So thank you so much for joining
• 14:27
  me on this podcast episode and I will chat with you in the next
• 14:31
  episode.