Learning

We recently interviewed Wendy Read, who retired from practicing radiation therapy this year and served as our Council president from 2013-2015. Watch a short video on her thoughts on current trends in medical radiation technology on YouTube.

Authors: Carlos Barrios, MSc, HBSc, RDCS,CRCS, DMS, and Michael Giuffre,BSc, MD Coarctation of the aorta accounts for 5–7% of all the cases of congenital heart disease, with an estimated incidence of approximately 3 cases per 10,000 births. Coarctation of the aorta typically presents in the neonatal or early childhood period. The less severe coarctation patients may have subtle clinical findings such as elevated upper limb blood pressure, diminished femoral pulses, and a systolic ejection murmur that often transmits to [...]

The protection of the public is of paramount importance to the College. The College emphasizes that the vast majority of its members treat their patients with respect and professionalism; however, the College will work with the public to recognize and address concerns around the power imbalance between health professionals and patients. The College has created a learning module to address these concerns, accessible to all members through the My CCP portal and to everyone on the College website. This learning module assists [...]

Tom, an MR technologist, has been asked by his employer to protocol exams for the MRI department. Is this activity within Tom’s scope of practice? According to Alberta legislation, the activity of protocoling MR exams does not require authorization from the College and this activity may be considered appropriate to the technologist’s area of practice. What training does Tom have to do in order to perform this activity? A College-approved program is not required as no authorization is needed; [...]

Authors: Sidsel Pedersen, BRadiog, MRT (R), and Virginia Sanders, MSc, RTR The gender landscape is changing. For professionals in health care, particularly diagnostic imaging (DI), we need better communication tools to obtain personal information from this gender diverse community. We need more specific information from patients because we are performing examinations in which radiation is involved. It is our professional duty to protect a patient’s reproductive organs whenever possible, but we must know where those organs are located. Read [...]

Author: Brenda Robinson The old days of “nose to the grindstone — shoulder to the wheel” are gone. People go to work today with a changed expectation and a changed perception. All of the research says we are working harder and we will work longer than the previous two generations — the 25-year job ending with retirement and a gold watch is a thing of the past. Given the changing situation, people are looking for work to provide more job satisfaction, enjoyment, interaction, [...]

Every so often a new therapy shifts the landscape of current practice. It’s a game changer – a disruptive technology. For the past two decades the use of image-guided radiotherapy, using computed tomography (CT), changed the way radiation therapy was delivered to patients with cancer. However, a new technology – magnetic resonance imaging-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) – is emerging in Canadian practice. Will MRgRT be the game changer CT was? Radiation therapy is a common treatment for cancer and can [...]

Author: Brenda Robinson We live in busy busy times. Our intuitive response is to see this as a problem. We use the refrain “I’m so busy,” as a reason to see our work from a problem perspective. Can we reframe that to celebrate being busy by approaching it in positive, productive ways? When our “busyness” comes across to our patients and clients we may give a message of impatience or a hurried approach. We need to work hard to [...]

My patient is here for their test, whose responsibility is it for informing the patient of all the risks involved? Is this activity within a regulated member’s scope of practice? As a healthcare professional, a regulated member has to ensure that informed consent for the procedure has been obtained. What is appropriate informed consent? Informed consent requires a healthcare professional to explain the procedure, all the implications, and recognize that the patient has the right to accept or refuse [...]