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EP. 89 The Hidden Ego Problem in CT Training · Cat Scan Guru Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello, hello. Welcome back, you awesome
• 0:02
  technologist. Welcome back to the podcast.
• 0:05
  So it is starting to feel like spring.
• 0:09
  I'm not sure where that's going, especially here in the Midwest,
• 0:12
  because this weather is very bipolar and it has been a lot of
• 0:15
  up and down. And I think like yesterday, they
• 0:18
  were supposed to say it was supposed to snow or something
• 0:20
  like that. It's supposed to rain.
• 0:21
  And we're supposed to have like these 60° days.
• 0:23
  So I don't know what's going on with the Groundhog, but I think
• 0:26
  he kind of lied to us because Mother Nature can't seem to make
• 0:30
  up her mind as far as if she's going to just dump snow on us or
• 0:35
  just give us, you know, gorgeous weather.
• 0:37
  And listen, I'm a desert person. I'm from the West Coast, and I
• 0:40
  will take my 100° weather every single day of the week.
• 0:44
  So I'm ready for summer. So little housekeeping, if you
• 0:49
  haven't heard, I do have the Core CT Protocols guide bundle
• 0:54
  available for purchase. So you can get it in two
• 0:57
  different versions. So there's a physical copy of
• 1:00
  the book with the course bundle and then there's a digital
• 1:04
  version of the guide that comes with the course bundle.
• 1:08
  So either one of them you can get and it's available for
• 1:12
  purchase. The link is in the show notes,
• 1:14
  so make sure you guys check in on that.
• 1:17
  Also with each whichever 1 you purchase, you also get a 10
• 1:21
  episode audio series that you can listen to on the go.
• 1:25
  And it's basically on how you can dominate your CT training.
• 1:28
  So a lot of the courses and a lot of the things that I do is
• 1:32
  really geared to help that incoming of brand new CT
• 1:36
  technologists that really need a lot of help.
• 1:39
  And I see it every day because we train new technologists at my
• 1:43
  job and it is just a thing that you know it, it's very needed
• 1:48
  because CT programs, I am just not 100% confident that a brand
• 1:54
  new CT tech is going to know everything that there is to know
• 1:57
  when it comes to that. So make sure you guys check out
• 2:00
  the show notes, get the guide today.
• 2:02
  It'll definitely help you and the courses help as well.
• 2:05
  Also make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channel.
• 2:07
  Lots of educational stuff is coming to the YouTube channel in
• 2:11
  the video portions of this podcast go up on the YouTube
• 2:13
  channel. So make sure you check that out
• 2:15
  as well and follow along on TikTok because I do all my
• 2:18
  protocol videos on TikTok. I do repurpose them to
• 2:21
  Instagram. I know I've been a little
• 2:23
  dormant on Instagram. It's just, you know, running.
• 2:26
  I run two different brands. So I have another brand that I
• 2:30
  own that has nothing to do with radiology.
• 2:32
  It's a completely different niche and I'm also doing a
• 2:36
  partnership licensing venture with my coach on that.
• 2:40
  So I'm getting ready to implement that in April.
• 2:44
  So that's pretty exciting stuff. So that's a totally different
• 2:48
  niche. So to run to different,
• 2:52
  different brands, two different pages, it's a lot you guys, but
• 2:56
  make sure you guys subscribe to the show so you can get the
• 2:58
  latest and greatest as well and get your hands on that protocol
• 3:02
  guide. It's merely a reference to help
• 3:05
  you in your CT training. It is not meant to replace any
• 3:09
  types protocols or any radiologist specific protocols.
• 3:13
  It's just a guide to help you. So in today's episode, we're
• 3:16
  going to be talking about the hidden ego problem in CT
• 3:20
  training. Oh yeah, this is a big one.
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  You know, I was debating on talking talking on this topic,
• 3:25
  but now I'm kind of glad that we are talking about it.
• 3:28
  So one thing that I do see a lot is the unspoken issues with ego
• 3:34
  when it comes to really learning CT and just the issues that
• 3:40
  block that learning in the CT department for new technology
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  and even technologists that may be switching jobs.
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  The unspoken issues revolving around ego is, I'll tell you
• 3:54
  something else, OK? One of the problems that I see
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  is, is that some CT departments prioritize hierarchy over
• 4:02
  teaching over educating over training, which that is just
• 4:07
  beyond me, and I do not understand that.
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  And what kind of trickles down to that is, is that new
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  technologists are afraid to ask questions.
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  They're ashamed because of not knowing CT or they should just
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  know or you should already know this by now.
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  How many times did I show you they're taught incorrectly and
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  it's inconsistent training. So, you know, think of it like
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  this. You have technologists that are
• 4:36
  really good at their job and then you have technologists that
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  they think they know that they're good at their job.
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  And they have this ego problem. Like you can't talk to me a
• 4:44
  certain way and I know everything and you're not going
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  to tell me anything different because I don't need to know
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  anything and I don't need to learn anything new.
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  So you have like a batch of those technologists and of
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  course you all there listening. I'm pretty sure you've
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  encountered people like this. It happens everywhere.
• 5:00
  OK, So what is the trickle down effect with that?
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  You know, technologists get anxious asking for clarification
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  on exams. They don't understand.
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  There's huge, huge learning gaps because one person will say one
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  thing and the another person will say something else and it's
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  never consistent. Or, you know, person with the
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  ego problem, you know, doesn't want to teach anybody.
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  I mean, I had a technologist at one side, They refused, didn't
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  want to teach any students, said I don't teach students, so get
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  out of my way and just had this huge ego problem, thought that
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  they knew everything and that students didn't need to be
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  taught and wasn't interested in it.
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  So that makes them feel very isolated, like they're on this
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  little island all by themselves and that's that.
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  And then there's this loss of just, you know, mentally feeling
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  OK and thinking, OK, I can do this job.
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  There's a safety issue there. Especially people who have big
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  egos but don't really know shit. OK, this is something that I see
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  a lot and just stick with me here because I feel that there
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  are a lot of social media creators that glorify what we do
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  in radiology and say, oh, well, you can do this.
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  You can have this and the money and the flashy cars and this and
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  that. Oh, it's great, I don't have to
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  do this. But never tell the other side of
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  when you're coding a patient on the table, when you know,
• 6:28
  patient has an allergic reaction, when patients have
• 6:31
  open wounds, when patients are crashing.
• 6:34
  You know, the just not so pretty side of what we deal with in
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  radiology and in CT departments. Patients who are combative,
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  being punched in the face, punched in the stomach, oh,
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  scratch, bitten, you name it. That's the side that they do not
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  tell. And I think that our profession
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  gets glorified too much and people just find it very
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  redundant because they don't talk about that.
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  That is the nitty gritty when it comes to that, right?
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  So a lot of just anxiety and then you get technologists that
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  will be afraid to ask questions because they get shamed, they
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  get bullied. And there's a lot of that that
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  goes on not only in radiology, but like in nursing and
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  different parts of the profession in really in in
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  healthcare, right? So then what happens is, is that
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  they're not taught correctly. It's inconsistent and they don't
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  know how to not really execute an optimal exam because they
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  weren't shown the right way because somebody has an ego
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  problem and they can't just put their ego aside and the pride
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  aside to actually show them how to do something and how to
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  execute an exam correctly. OK, So what we have to start
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  doing as far as when we're out there training is we have to
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  make sure that if you're a new technologist, you need to shift
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  your perspective in your thinking from approval seeking
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  to skill seeking because you want to seek out your skills and
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  be better at your skills then getting approval from people
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  that are in this hierarchy. OK, we can't like sit there and
• 8:11
  and try to gain approval based on, you know, did I did, did I
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  do this exam fast enough? Did I do that?
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  You know, based on what they said or how they told me to do
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  it, You can't because your skill set are going to be your own.
• 8:26
  You have to build your own system.
• 8:29
  OK, so one of the things that I want you to take away from is
• 8:33
  focusing on documenting what you don't know.
• 8:35
  That's why I encourage everybody to make sure they carry a
• 8:38
  notebook, because you need to write down things you don't know
• 8:41
  so that you can ask questions and have clarification on the
• 8:45
  exams, contrast, positioning, whatever the case is, because
• 8:49
  you have to build your own system.
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  You have to build your own skill sets because you can't build
• 8:54
  your experience off of somebody else.
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  You have to build it off of your own right.
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  So, and a lot of things that need to happen is we need to
• 9:05
  separate ego from education because those two things do not
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  go together, OK? Your ego is just going to kill
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  it. And that's why technologists
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  leave because, you know, they tend to leave certain places
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  because of bullying, of shame management, not taking people,
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  you know, into account and holding them accountable, not
• 9:29
  recognizing that there is a problem and things get swept
• 9:33
  under the rug. People get a slap on the wrist.
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  And usually people leave because of management.
• 9:38
  They don't leave because of money or some of the people that
• 9:43
  they enjoy working with. Now, yes, there are
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  technologists that leave if they are just tired of getting
• 9:48
  bullied. Management is not doing
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  anything, yes, but huge core of that is because they leave
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  because of the management ignoring the problems that are
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  there. Okay, so we have to take our ego
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  out of the mix because your ego is is going to harm patients.
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  I'm going to say that again, your ego is going to harm
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  patients and that is not what the priority is.
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  The priority is making sure that the patient is safe, they get
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  the correct exam, they get an optimal exam so they can get a
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  clinical diagnosis. OK, As educators and as people
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  who are training preceptors and people who are training the new
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  incoming text, you need to make sure that they are taught
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  correctly, it's consistent. They have a plan of attack for
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  the day. They have structure in their
• 10:35
  training. Their training is set up so they
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  know all the basics. You have to execute that so they
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  feel comfortable coming to you, asking questions when they don't
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  know something. They have to be able to not only
• 10:46
  psychologically feel safe, but physically feel safe in that
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  space. OK, Because I can tell you, I've
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  encountered texts that you know, have come from other places that
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  they've gotten bullied and they physically don't feel safe.
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  And I don't understand the whole, you know, fucking shaming
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  and the bullying because why? OK, there, there is no such
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  thing as gatekeeping here. We're all here to learn, you
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  know, and there are some things that I've been learned from
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  technologists that have been in the business 2 years versus
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  technologists that have been in the business for 30 years
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  because I've worked with a variety of the two.
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  So ego does not belong in CT training.
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  What belongs is respect. What belongs is kindness and
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  common courtesy and positive constructive feedback.
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  When if to do something incorrectly that you give that
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  positive constructive criticism, what that's going to result to
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  is these technologists are going to be confident and they're
• 11:43
  going to be able to function independently.
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  They lose their fear. They don't have to be fearful of
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  asking any questions. They make stronger decisions and
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  they will be self LED with self-directed growth.
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  And that is what we want because a lot of techs, you know, you
• 11:59
  want to be the go to, OK. And with those things you can be
• 12:04
  and you can be very successful anywhere you go, OK?
• 12:07
  You cannot control the department culture, like we
• 12:11
  cannot control the culture. We can't control, you know,
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  egotistical text. We can't control any of that,
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  OK. But what you can't control is
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  how you learn how your structure is set up, how you want your
• 12:22
  training to go and how you execute your exams and build
• 12:26
  your skill set. The protocol guide bundle, it
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  gives you all the stuff that some departments don't, OK, it
• 12:32
  gives you the basics, it gives you a little bit of structure
• 12:35
  and you have at least some common knowledge on the most
• 12:39
  common CTE exams. So make sure you check that out
• 12:43
  in the show notes. So that is it for today's
• 12:45
  episode. So like I said, make sure you
• 12:47
  get your course bundle, whether you want a digital or physical,
• 12:51
  it's in the show notes. Subscribe to the YouTube
• 12:54
  channel, follow along on TikTok, subscribe to the show so you can
• 12:57
  get the latest and greatest on the podcast episodes.
• 12:59
  So thank you so much for joining me on this episode.
• 13:02
  I will talk to you guys in the next episode.