Assignment 10: Internship Update

My perception of the Radiology department has vastly been altered by my experience in my internship. My preconception I had about radiology was that it consisted of X-rays, MRI, and CT. It was a field that I was familiar with, but I never actually researched to get a true definition. Through my internship I have learned that the branches that compose radiology are ultra sound, x-ray, CT, MRI, PET, and nuclear medicine. One other preconception I had was that radiology was a branch of medicine that's purpose was to help with diagnosing. Which it is, but Radiology also takes part in treatment. There are exams and procedures in this department. For instance, an exam in CT can be just a scan used by doctors to diagnose. A procedure in CT can be cryoablation, the process of using extreme temperature to destroy tissue. This is a treatment for a cancerous mass. I feel learning that radiology does treatments surprised me the most. I had no idea that cryoablation and microwave existed. I did not know in ultrasound they perform thoracentesis. The second thing that surprised me the most was the amount of interaction the radiology department has with basically every other department in the hospital whether it be ultrasounds for the women's center, MRI scans for neurology, nuclear medicine scans for surgery prep, x rays in the ER, or cardiology. Radiology department is always receiving patients from everywhere in the hospital. It never slows down inn radiology. Which I feel has been one of the biggest benefits I have from this internship. I see what is is like to work in radiology, but I also see snips of what it is like to work in the other departments. I have spoken to nurses, physician assistants, radiologist, pathologist, lab techs, and more.

I feel that I have actually learned the most from the routine or boring parts of this internship. The "boring parts" would be like when we have prepared the procedure room, but we are waiting for the patient or physician assistant to arrive. During this time is when I ask the majority of my questions such as what is this procedure and what are the steps? Then usually based of what response I get that opens the door to many more questions. During this time I am able to get the basic questions answered, so then when the second "boring part" comes which is when the PA or radiologist is signing documents I can ask further in depth questions to the PA. For instance, there was a bone marrow biopsy. I asked the techs how this procedure is done and the lab techs what they are looking for. Then when the PA comes I ask her theoretical questions like if this where bone marrow harvesting how would the procedure alter and what would be the subsequent steps. I knew that bone marrow transplants were done after chemotherapy and were done by harvesting bone marrow in order to obtain white blood cells and stem cells. However I did not know how the harvest was done and how the recipient was given the marrow. From the PA I learned how the older procedure of bone marrow was done and also I learned that there is now a new procedure for harvesting that is way less invasive and discomforting to the donor. I also learned the bone marrow is administered in the same manner as IV. I am not able to ask these questions when the "action" is occurring because everyone needs to focus on the procedure. My main point in telling this short story is that most of my learning occurs during these "boring moments".