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EP. 77 What They Don't Tell You When Starting in CT · Cat Scan Guru Podcast

• 0:00
  OK, so you think you're supposed to know it all in CT, even
• 0:04
  though CT is a very overwhelming department, There's a lot of
• 0:07
  moving parts and it's very complex, OK.
• 0:09
  It's very different than X-ray, very different from MRI, very
• 0:12
  different from other modalities. So do you really think you're
• 0:16
  supposed to know all there is to know in CT?
• 0:19
  Hello, Hello, welcome back everybody.
• 0:21
  Welcome back to the podcast. Welcome back to the CAT Scan
• 0:26
  Guru podcast. Hope you guys are having an
• 0:28
  amazing week. Hopefully Halloween was good and
• 0:30
  now we are getting into the holidays.
• 0:33
  If you can believe it, in three weeks it will be Thanksgiving.
• 0:35
  Yeah. So just some updates for you
• 0:39
  guys. So I am going to be making some
• 0:43
  more content for the YouTube channel on the CAT Scan Guru.
• 0:47
  So I know I had said in previous episodes that I was going to
• 0:51
  release a patient centering video kind of like a course and
• 0:56
  stuff like that. So I apologize that I haven't
• 0:58
  gotten to that. It's just the editing and all
• 1:01
  that stuff is like time consuming.
• 1:03
  So I will get on that. So I will let you guys know when
• 1:05
  I will release that. So make sure you guys are
• 1:09
  following along. Subscribe to the YouTube
• 1:10
  channel, subscribe to the podcast and share it with other
• 1:14
  technologists that need this information and that are
• 1:17
  struggling in CT. And make sure you guys follow on
• 1:20
  TikTok. I do some really awesome
• 1:24
  protocol videos on TikTok, so make sure you guys follow along.
• 1:27
  So let's get into today's episode.
• 1:30
  Today's episode we're going to be talking about what they don't
• 1:33
  tell you when you start CT. Yes.
• 1:37
  OK, so you think you're supposed to know it all in CT, even
• 1:42
  though CT is a very overwhelming department, there's a lot of
• 1:45
  moving parts and it's very complex, OK.
• 1:47
  It's very different than X-ray, very different from MRI, very
• 1:51
  different from other modalities, as of course we know.
• 1:54
  So do you really think you're supposed to know all there is to
• 1:58
  know NCT, even though you've probably never seen a
• 2:03
  cross-sectional anatomy image, never worked in CT, Maybe you're
• 2:06
  brand new to the department, maybe that you're a traveler and
• 2:10
  this is a new area for you. No, trust me, there are a lot of
• 2:15
  steps that get skipped even though they expect you to know
• 2:19
  everything. OK, so I want to give you some
• 2:22
  common misconceptions that kind of exist out there per SE.
• 2:27
  So one of the things is, is that you're just going to know it all
• 2:31
  in four weeks or six weeks of training.
• 2:36
  Bullshit. You're not OK, because if you
• 2:39
  can't get the core exams and get positioning correct, there's no
• 2:44
  way that your brain is going to contain all that information.
• 2:47
  OK? So that's why when I train
• 2:49
  people, I like to start out with the basics.
• 2:51
  Start out with making sure they know proper centering and proper
• 2:55
  patient positioning because that is very important, and making
• 2:59
  sure that they understand how all the buttons work on the
• 3:02
  machine and making sure how to select protocols and what
• 3:05
  protocols we typically use. And knowing the common exams and
• 3:08
  knowing about contrast media because contrast media is
• 3:11
  something that's important because 95% of our exams are
• 3:17
  with contrast media, whether it's oral contrast, IV contrast.
• 3:20
  I mean, we're injecting patients all the time for just about
• 3:24
  every type of exam. So technical factors, this is
• 3:29
  another thing that you're supposed to memorize all the
• 3:31
  technical factors. No, there is no way your
• 3:34
  freaking brain is going to remember all that stuff, OK?
• 3:37
  And there is a lot to learn. That's why I encourage new texts
• 3:40
  to make sure that they have a notebook or something as far as
• 3:45
  writing down protocols, writing down tips, tricks, whatever the
• 3:48
  case is, so that you understand what you're doing as you're
• 3:52
  scanning and your training and your learning.
• 3:54
  OK, Now when it comes to technical factors, you need to
• 3:58
  understand them and why. So when I'm talking about
• 4:02
  technical factors is let's say if if you're able to, because a
• 4:06
  lot of facilities don't like you to mess with the technical
• 4:09
  factors. If you are moving from 120 KDP
• 4:14
  to 140, you need to understand why you're increasing it by 40%,
• 4:20
  right? So you have to know why you're
• 4:23
  making that huge step. Or if you're increasing your MAS
• 4:27
  because you're doubling it, you have to understand why you're
• 4:30
  doing that rotation time. So that's how slow or fast the
• 4:34
  table is moving along with the X-ray tube.
• 4:37
  You have to understand why and the effects of it when you slow
• 4:41
  down the pitch or you increase the pitch.
• 4:44
  So technical factors, you need to understand why we do it and
• 4:47
  you need to understand them completely as how they affect
• 4:52
  the patient, the exam and the radiation dose.
• 4:55
  So those are the things that are a little bit of a common
• 4:59
  misconception that we are just to expect new technologist to
• 5:03
  just memorize everything and that's physically freaking
• 5:06
  impossible. OK.
• 5:08
  Now another thing is, is that you shouldn't make a mistakes.
• 5:13
  You should be perfect. No, you can still make a mistake
• 5:17
  and still be a damn good tech because you learn from trial and
• 5:21
  error. You learn from those mistakes
• 5:22
  and how to correct them the first time.
• 5:25
  Not this wacky ass bullshit about oh this is just the way we
• 5:29
  do it. I can't tell you that statement
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  grinds my years so much because I've heard it so many times.
• 5:35
  No, there is a better way to do things and there's a correct way
• 5:40
  to do things. So mistakes were human.
• 5:44
  It happens, OK, as long as the patient is not harmed.
• 5:48
  And sometimes a mistake can harm the patient.
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  You have to know what happened, how to correct it and how to do
• 5:54
  it right the next time and making sure that you prevent
• 5:58
  that mistake from happening. OK, you can control.
• 6:02
  You can take control of your learning.
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  So what I mean by is don't wait for your preceptor or for
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  whoever's training you to, you know, say, OK, we're going to do
• 6:12
  XY and Z, go be a go getter, OK? Some of the most awesome
• 6:18
  technologists that I've worked with or work like I work with
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  and have worked with before, or go getters, they're like, hey,
• 6:26
  when's the next exam coming? Hey, I want to do this.
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  Hey, I want to do that. You have to take control of your
• 6:33
  learning. Don't wait for who's training
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  you or your preceptor or whatever the case is to tell
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  you, hey, you need to go do the next exam.
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  OK? We don't do laziness.
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  I want you to be a go getter and go get those exams.
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  Learn how to do them properly, OK?
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  And stop apologizing for learning.
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  If you don't understand something, if you're not sure,
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  if it's not clicking, you know, you know.
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  Don't apologize for voicing when you don't understand something.
• 7:02
  That's why you ask questions. That's why you get other
• 7:05
  perspectives. Speak up when you are unsure.
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  Speak up if you're not comfortable.
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  Speak up when you're like, you know, I'm just not, I'm not sure
• 7:14
  how to do this exam. OK.
• 7:17
  It's very, very important because what makes you a good
• 7:19
  technologist is making sure that you speak up, you write things
• 7:21
  down and you question a lot of the things that we do because
• 7:25
  you want to understand why right now, here are some practical
• 7:30
  tech tips that I'd like to give everybody.
• 7:32
  Make sure you review and you study your exams.
• 7:34
  When you're scanning the patient, make sure you go
• 7:36
  through your exam and making sure you have all the areas that
• 7:39
  need to be covered as far as if there's any order comments, you
• 7:43
  know, in the order. If you have to scan, you know,
• 7:45
  especially if we do an abdomen pelvis and they're looking for
• 7:48
  like a scrotal mass or some kind of scrotal Abscess, make sure
• 7:51
  you scan past that stuff like that.
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  Make sure you review and you study your exams and you make
• 7:58
  sure that your exams look optimal.
• 8:00
  OK, sometimes patients are not optimal, but at least the best
• 8:04
  exam possible. Now, another tip I'm going to
• 8:07
  give you is don't just shadow get in the captain's seat and
• 8:12
  perform the exam. I can't tell you how many techs
• 8:15
  don't know how to properly execute CT exams because they
• 8:20
  sit there and watch the techs do it.
• 8:22
  No, like if you want to watch one, yes.
• 8:25
  And then you sit down in the captain's chair and you do the
• 8:27
  exam. That's how you're going to
• 8:29
  learn. That's how you're going to be
• 8:31
  able to execute that exam. OK, You have to perform them.
• 8:35
  Get in the captain's chair and get in on it and do it.
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  And if you aren't sure, of course, whoever's training you
• 8:42
  is there to help you and that is their job.
• 8:46
  Also ask why after every exam, like if you're saying, OK, well
• 8:51
  the timing on APE is this, how come we have to wait for this?
• 8:55
  Or how come, you know, we have to, you know, do a smart prep,
• 9:00
  for example, It's important to know the why behind certain
• 9:04
  exams because that helps you and makes you become better.
• 9:07
  And with more repetition and more experience, you just become
• 9:11
  a better technologist. So those are the practical tips
• 9:15
  that I think as technologists we need to utilize because we need
• 9:19
  to make sure that we review our exams.
• 9:21
  OK, Make sure you study your exams.
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  Look at your protocol books, make sure instead of shadowing
• 9:26
  everybody, get your ass in the chair and scan the damn patient.
• 9:31
  Get in the room and center them and making sure you use your
• 9:35
  laser light and making sure you have proper ISO centering, OK,
• 9:40
  And ask why when you don't understand a certain exam on how
• 9:44
  we smart prep the timing, why we give contrast, why we give
• 9:47
  saline, why we do those things. Make sure you do that so that
• 9:52
  you can become more competent, more experienced and with
• 9:56
  repetition, you're just going to be better.
• 9:58
  OK? Now I have a free eight week
• 10:01
  checklist. Make sure you get on that
• 10:02
  because that is your action plan to what you need to know when
• 10:06
  you're starting CT. OK, so that is all I have for
• 10:11
  today's episode. So I do want to leave you with
• 10:13
  this. I am working on something really
• 10:16
  big that I probably am going to release in December.
• 10:21
  So it is something that I believe will help all
• 10:25
  technologists out there and I think it'll be a vital tool for
• 10:29
  all of you. I can't say too much about it
• 10:33
  now, but as time goes on, I will give you short clips, make sure
• 10:37
  you follow on TikTok of this just exciting project that I'm
• 10:41
  working on. So I'm so excited for it.
• 10:44
  And I think it will help a lot of you that are struggling and
• 10:48
  having challenges, and it will really help you out there on the
• 10:53
  floor while you're doing those CT exams.
• 10:55
  So thank you so much for listening to this episode and I
• 10:59
  will chat with you guys in the next episode.
• 11:02
  Play song.