Latest / Cat Scan Guru Podcast / EP. 83 Learning CT Without the Overwhelm or Burnout

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EP. 83 Learning CT Without the Overwhelm or Burnout · Cat Scan Guru Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello, hello, welcome back everybody.
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  Welcome back to the Cat Scan Guru podcast.
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  Hope you guys are having an amazing week.
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  Yes, we are in full swing of 2026 and I am fucking excited
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  about all the good things that I have planned and the goals that
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  I have just set up for myself because I don't do the whole New
• 0:24
  Year's resolution stuff because that's just not attainable for
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  me. So and I've tried that in the
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  past, but you know what it's just I would never accomplish
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  the goal. So have lots of good goals for
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  me personally and as far as you know, my brands.
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  So because I have two different brands and just some other
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  business ventures that I'm working on.
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  So if you haven't caught the last episode, I talked about the
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  CT Protocol book that I went ahead and created and freaking
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  fantastic. So this is the first version of
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  it. Of course, this will get updated
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  as more things come out. So make sure you check out the
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  link in the show notes. It's available not only as a
• 1:05
  hard copy but also as APDF. So make sure you check that out.
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  I'm super excited as one of the greatest accomplishments I have
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  so far for 2026, and I hope it helps a lot of you technologists
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  out there because it's a really good resource.
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  It's very general so it doesn't stick to like 1 protocol versus
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  the other. It's very general so it could be
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  just used anywhere. So make sure you go check that
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  out. Also subscribe to the YouTube
• 1:31
  channel. Got lots of good educational
• 1:34
  content that's coming out. Subscribe to this podcast.
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  Make sure you share with ACT technologist that needs to hear
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  all this because they need to come and get educated.
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  So bring yourself to the podcast show and also make sure you
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  follow on TikTok and on Instagram.
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  So everything will be available in the show notes as far as
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  that. So let's get into today's
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  episode where I'm going to be talking about learning CT
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  without the overwhelm or burnout.
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  Now, as a technologist, with the amount of years I've been in
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  this, this is year #23 you can experience a lot of overwhelm
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  and burnout, whether you're a new technologist, whether you're
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  a seasoned technologist. I know I feel the burnout now.
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  So, and it's very overwhelming, especially when you have made
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  this a career and you've invested time, years, energy,
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  things like that, and just paid your dues to this profession.
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  OK, so I'm going to be talking about, you know, the learning
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  patterns, the core exams that I feel you should know like in the
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  beginning when you're starting out and how to build your
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  confidence. OK, so we're going to kind of
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  dive into these topics. All right, so learning patterns
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  when it comes to CT, I've seen different kinds of learning
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  patterns. So what I'm talking about
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  learning patterns is when technologists come and they're
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  transitioning from X-ray or they're a student from a CT
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  program or even a traveler, you can kind of sense, you know, how
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  they perform, whether they learn something very, very quickly or
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  they need more time. And I've experienced both of
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  these learning patterns because some people do catch on very
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  quickly and some people need a little bit more time because it
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  can be very overwhelming. And then I've seen learning
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  patterns where people just do not care.
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  And I'm pretty sure you've seen that as well.
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  And they just become what you call either a textbook tech or a
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  button pusher. OK, now as far as textbook, and
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  that is nothing to be negative, but we're going to call it out
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  as we see it because that's what it really is.
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  We are a profession and you have to be the best tech that you can
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  and we want you to make sure that you are safely getting that
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  exam done on the patient, not just because we have 30 Ers that
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  need to be done and it's a conveyor belt.
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  And I know it can kind of feel that way, OK.
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  So The thing is, is that we have to educate them the right way
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  every single time, OK? So people who catch on very
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  fast, it's very good, but they also need to make sure that they
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  have good structure and that they perform the exam safely and
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  not rush through the exam because they want to pick up
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  speed, OK, Like you have to make sure you do it correctly and
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  safely, OK, Next thing is, is that some some other people do
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  need more time. Sometimes understanding the why
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  behind things sometimes is why didn't my exam in the contrast
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  enhanced like I wanted it to or why did this happen?
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  Or you know, the different types of factors of you know, what's
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  going on. OK, this anatomy is out of the
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  field of view. How can we adjust and how can we
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  fit everything in there? And sometimes that does need to
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  be rescanned because, you know, we do have bariatric patients
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  and sometimes the anatomy that they're looking at can fall out
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  of the field of view. So how do we correct that,
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  Right? So sometimes they need a little
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  bit more guidance to really learn the core things that need
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  to be learned in CT. And it can be very overwhelming
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  and it can burn you out really fast.
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  So sometimes people's learning curves are different.
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  Now as far as the textbook text button pushers, OK, now, yes,
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  you need the textbook material to learn everything on the
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  registry to pass the registry to do this.
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  I can tell you when it comes to actually physically interacting
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  with the patient, physically doing the exam, physically
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  executing protocols and physically, you know, making
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  sure that your patient centering is correct.
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  A textbook ain't going to help you there.
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  OK, it's not going to help you there.
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  It will help you for the registry and help you do that
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  and become a registered tech. However, you need to know what
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  you're doing when you're inside that room with the scanner, with
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  the patient, and behind that console when you're executing
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  that exam. Those are the things that you
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  need to know because you need to know what you're doing out there
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  on the floor, not what a textbook tells you, OK?
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  And it's very frustrating because we do have seasoned
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  people who teach the newer people.
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  Well, you just push this button, that button, this button, that
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  button. Well, whatever you learn in your
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  textbook, no, that's bullshit. You learn more when you're
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  physically active in that setting and you are doing it not
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  watching somebody. When you're actually physically
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  setting up the patient, physically doing the exam,
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  physically administering contrast.
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  That is how you learn the proper way.
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  So we have to be mindful of different learning patterns with
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  people as far as if they catch on quickly or if they need more
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  time and we can adjust accordingly.
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  OK, now the core exams that you need to know when you are first
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  starting out, these are my recommendations.
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  Whatever you guys do in your facilities, make sure you guys
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  continue to do that. So these this is my own personal
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  perspective and what I recommend.
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  So all your head CTS to make sure you know how to center them
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  properly, execute them properly, you know, angle if your pantry
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  does that. I know a lot of newer scanners
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  don't do that because I have at my facility we have two new 256
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  GE machines and those do not tilt.
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  Those gantries do not tilt that you do after the fact.
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  We do what we call a virtual gantry tilt.
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  So because those big bores do not on those big gantries do not
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  tilt anymore, OK, They're stationary.
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  So head CTS are very important. OK, your stroke protocol because
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  especially with just the amount, whether you are like a stroke
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  ready facility, you're a comprehensive stroke center, a
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  primary stroke center, wherever the case is, make sure you know
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  and know how to execute your stroke protocol, your perfusion,
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  your CTA head. And next make sure you get that
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  as a core exam tip top. OK, your abdomen and pelvis's,
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  those are a scan that are ordered routinely every single
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  day. Yes, I know they're fucking
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  boring. However, that is a routine exam
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  that gets ordered every single time you see a head without
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  abdomen, pelvis with usually it's on older patients that we
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  see that combo sometimes because we're trying to rule out some
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  kind of urinary tract infection that the patients altered and
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  things like that and can make them very, you know, altered and
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  confused. OK, But you get it for a lot of
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  other diagnosis as well on different populations of people.
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  So make sure that you understand how to know your timing on
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  contrast when it comes to abdomen and pelvises and things
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  like that, and also CTA work. The next core exam that I feel
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  is very, very important is your PE study.
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  PE studies are very, very important and they order those
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  like if you need a cup of water every single hour, OK, I know
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  that was a bad analogy, but PE studies, you have to know how to
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  execute them properly. Contrast timing, knowing what
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  that is, making sure that you're setting up your ROI in the
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  correct place, making sure that your IV is checked properly and
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  make sure it's good for contrast injection.
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  Making sure you know as far as how much contrast depending on,
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  you know, patient habitus, you know, cardiac output, which
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  cardiac output. We really don't have much that
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  we can do about that. But if it looks like a really
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  crappy PE study, you know exactly how you can adjust it
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  next time. OK, so I feel that those are
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  some core exams that you need repetition practice because
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  repetition and practice builds your confidence, which is my
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  last point in this episode. So when you have repetition, you
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  practice those exams over and over and over and over again.
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  And I know it's going to be repetitive, it's going to be
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  boring. You're going to be like, my
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  gosh, I'm bored out of my fucking mind.
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  However, when you build that rapport where it's repetitive,
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  where you practice a lot and you gain more experience, you're
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  going to build more confidence in executing those exams.
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  You're going to build more confidence when you center that
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  patient correctly. Now I talk about patient
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  centering in every podcast episode and I'll tell you why
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  patient centering is very, very important when you do those
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  scouts because it's going to tell that CT system the correct
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  amount of radiation dose to give that patient.
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  So when you center the patient correctly, it's going to
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  calculate the correct dose so that we keep that dose as low as
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  we can, OK? So that is very, very important.
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  And that is one of the things in every core exam that you have to
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  make sure you do properly, not the second time you do it right
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  the first time. Patient centering is very, very
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  important. So laser light, please use them,
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  OK? That is what you need to do, OK.
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  So like I said, repetition practice, those are going to
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  make you a very confident tech. It is going to build your
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  confidence in making sure they you can execute that like, OK,
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  this is no problem because once you repeat it so many times,
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  once you practice, once you get the flow of it, it's going to
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  come naturally to you. OK.
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  And sometimes people with different learning patterns,
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  yeah, that might take time, but eventually they start to get
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  into the rhythm, get into a flow, and everything comes
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  naturally. So my course that I've
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  constructed it is a course with three or four, three or four
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  different courses looped into it gives you this structure in CT
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  that CT schools do not give you. And I am not knocking any CT
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  programs or anything like that. However, I've seen curriculums
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  in it could be structured a little bit different.
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  So that's why I have created an entire just CT course where it
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  is 3 different courses in one huge course and it gives you the
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  structure that CT programs didn't.
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  So make sure you check that out in the show notes because it's
• 11:53
  LinkedIn there. Okay, so that is it for today's
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  episode. So hopefully this was insightful
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  and gives you some clarity on on how to just learn CT without the
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  overwhelm, without the burnout, so you can be a successful tech.
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  So thank you so much for joining me in this episode.
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  Make sure you subscribe to the show, subscribe to the YouTube
• 12:12
  channel, follow me on TikTok. So I appreciate everybody
• 12:15
  listening and thank you for joining me on this episode.
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  And I will chat with you guys in the next episode.