Hey what's up everybody my name's Troy Osorno but many of you already know me
as Troy the X-ray Boy & I received 25 of your questions because you wanted to know
more about what I do here in x-ray so let's just jump right into these
questions #1 was it difficult for you to become an x-ray tech?
yes & no
when I was a senior in high school my daughter was born
so going to school
& being a parent that's a huge challenge but luckily for me I was able to excel
in school because I had my daughter there motivating me to work hard & get good grades
question 2 what do you like best about your work?
it's really about who you're working with & where you're working at
& I know that there are many x-ray techs that are stuck working in an emergency room
in a stressful environment & it's really really draining to
be around patient after patient that is having the worst day of their life
they're coming in with some severe injuries sometimes it's life-threatening
& that's not for everyone not everyone can work in an ER Luckily for me
I work in a small clinic
here at the Maui Medical Group in Pukalani & I have a great group of nurses & doctors here
& the patients that come in they usually just walk right in
it's nothing serious & 99% of them are friendly so that's always a plus
#3 what college did you graduate from?
I graduated from Kapiolani Community College's
Maui Radiology Program in 2009 now you can't do that program it's since been taken away so
the only place you can study radiology is on Oahu at KCC's campus there
#4 is it difficult to be an x-ray person?
to BE an x-ray person? no. it's not difficult at all.
to BECOME an x-ray person? yes & I think that's how it is with any job
when you go to school & you're getting your degree it's very hard
but here in x-ray it's very... it's a very simple job it's actually the easiest job that I've ever
had but getting to this job that was the hard part #5 how long have you been a radiology tech?
I've been working
as an x-ray tech here for 7 years & I've always worked for the Maui Medical Group
#6 what made you become an x-ray technician?
well back in intermediate school my dad got rushed to the emergency room
with a life-threatening condition & luckily because of the doctors nurses & techs he was
able to make it through despite having a low chance of survival so ever since ever
since that moment in my life I've always been interested in the medical field #7 can you get
cancer from being exposed to x-rays & this is a very common question that we get especially
when you see things in the news about nuclear power plant accidents & that brings up concerns
about radiation exposure the honest truth is that yes any exposure to an x-ray can
eventually lead to cancer but that is why it's important for your doctor to determine if the
benefits of the x-ray exam outweigh the risks & technologists like myself are trained to make
sure that you're safe during these exams so there are many different things that we do to keep you
safe here are the top four #1 we make sure that the patient is not pregnant because a developing
baby is the most sensitive to radiation #2 we make sure that we focus the x-ray beam so
that it is only being exposed over the area of interest #3 is we do as few x-rays as possible &
#4 is we use these lead aprons to cover the more radiation sensitive areas of your body during the
tests so there's many different things that we do to protect patients during the x-rays & keep that
chance to a minimum #8 what is the most exciting part about your job for excitement I would say
it's probably the variety of patients that we get & the variety of what you do because for
the most part patients are coming in they can just walk in they're middle aged & maybe 7 out
of 10 x-rays it's a patient that needs to have a chest x-ray so those are just 2 views it's...it's
really simple to do but once in a while you'll have a patient that comes in that is not doing
so well maybe they're in a wheelchair maybe it's a baby sometimes you have to x-ray a different
body part like their skull maybe their foot their elbow you never know what you're going to
get & not knowing and having that variety that's that's what's most exciting for me in this job
#9 what type of education do you need? well that varies state to state but for the most part when
you go to a radiology program you have to first take your prerequisites so those are the the
courses like Math, English, Medical Terminology, & of course Anatomy which is the most important
one & once you have those classes finished then you go on to apply for a radiology program the
radiology program itself lasts 2 years & the prerequisites last 2 years so all together
you're looking at about 4 years of going to college the next question is #10 since when did
you know you wanted to be an x-ray tech? well I always knew since intermediate school that I
wanted to go into the medical field...but a couple years after my dad got sent to the ER I
met an x-ray tech at the gym where I worked out and he was actually going to KCC's program on
Oahu & when he was when he was here on Maui during his vacations he would tell me about
how much fun the program was and what a great career radiology is to be in so that sparked
my interest in this #11 what type of education or training is necessary well you already know
about the prerequisites & about the radiology program but as far as training goes during that
radiology program you're studying you're going into the lab doing experiments & you're doing
lots of hands-on time so that training is probably the best part of your schooling those are during
your clinical rotations & you go all over to the emergency room the operating room & different
clinics so you can get the full experience of what are the different jobs available for x-ray
techs & you don't get paid but it's really the most important part of school because you're
learning hands-on what it means to be an x-ray tech #12 what is the worst thing about this
job? again that just depends on where you're working if you're working at an ER it can be
very stressful if you're working at the operating room that can be a lot of pressure for you to...
to operate your x-ray machine quickly because the surgeon is waiting for you & for me here
at the clinic um the worst thing it's hard to say 'cause I love my job so much but if I had to say
something it's probably the days that are really really busy like after a holiday or a Monday when
there's lots of patients that are coming in & they all need x-rays right away and you... & I
don't like those days because I have to rush & I can't spend as much time with each patient as I
normally do next question is #13 do you have fun with your job well this is the most fun that I've
ever had in my entire life I've had many jobs but working as a radiology tech has by far been the
best & most fun job working at the Maui Medical Group is fun because we always have fun contests
where we're competing against the different departments during Halloween for cash prizes
so there's always something fun going on here & it's really fun to be part of this organization
#14 is it really your passion? well I heard this saying once. it's an old saying. it goes if you
can find a job that you love you'll never work a day in your life & I'm so lucky that that's the
case for me I actually look forward to coming to work every morning & radiology working as an
x-ray tech I found that that is my passion #15 do you have free medical huh well I wish
that it was free cuz it's not cheap every month I pay about two hundred & eighty bucks for my
daughter and I to have dental & medical insurance but the good news is if we go to the Maui Medical
Group and see a doctor with our group we don't have to pay a copay or if we need to have some
sort of diagnostic test such as an x-ray or MRI or ultrasound we don't have to pay anything the Maui
Medical Group pays for that portion #16 how long did it take till you became a radiographer? it
took me 5 years normally you can get it done in 4 but I was just waiting for the Maui program
to begin so I had finished my prerequisites I had a year to wait before the program started & so
during that 1 year break I took my math class again because originally I got a C in math & I
wanted to get a better grade to increase my chances of getting into the radiology program so
during that one year break I was able to do that & bump up my math score #17 what is your favorite
thing about your job? by far it's probably just helping patients many patients that come in they
are sick maybe they have some sort of broken bone & you're trying to find out what's going on & it's
really it's a really rewarding thing to be able to help the patient & find out what's going on
with them #18 what college degree did you need to be a radiologist? well I have to clear up
something here there are many different names for my job there's radiology tech, x-ray tech,
radiographer, radiologic technologist... that's the fanciest one... but radiologist that is the
actual physician that interprets the x-ray so they're a doctor. we send x-rays when we're done
to the radiologist & they will look at the x-ray & create a report with all the details about the
study so if you want to be a radiologist you have to go to school for a very long time because first
you have to go to 4 years of college & then 4 years of medical school so that
you can become a doctor first then they go into their radiology programs so yeah radiologists
that's the doctor & they go to school for a very very long time next question is #19 how
do you keep yourself safe while taking x-rays? well you already know about patient safety...
as far as technologist safety each time we go... each time we take an x-ray we extend behind
a protective wall & that that keeps us safe from getting x-rayed too next up we have got #20 what
do you think is the most important thing for someone considering the field to know? well just
think about it this job you're a photographer & you're taking pictures of the human body
so you really have to have a good foundation of the skeleton & also the other organs & systems
in the body because in x-ray we look at all types of body parts we have chest x-rays looking at the
heart & the lungs you have different x-rays for the skeletal system if there's a break & also we
look at that digestive system by giving a patient a drink called barium which will highlight their
digestive structures so you have to really know everything about anatomy to work in this field #21
what was your job before you became an x-ray tech? well before I did this I worked as a bellman & a
valet over at the Fairmont Kealani hotel in Wailea & that was really a great experience for me
because it taught me how to give great customer service & how to be a hard worker & of course
the tips were good but best of all I was able to learn how to speak the Filipino dialect of Ilocano
while I was there because many of my friends in housekeeping would teach me everyday & I continue
to use that here in my current job many of the patients are Filipino & they don't speak any
English so I have to tell the patient to take a deep breath in Umangus ka ti naunug nana so it was
a really valuable experience for me working at the hotel next question is #22 how is it like working
with patients? I think it's a lot of fun like I mentioned you get to learn different languages
because the patients sometimes they don't speak English so you get to meet many patients from
all over & it's really it's really great to find out...find out different things about the people
in your community & #23 is do you make a lot of money? well yes we do as radiology techs we
make a lot of money if you consider the amount of training that you go through to get this job. you
go to school for about four years & the national average for x-ray techs is $27 per hour & that's
just the average so a lot of times you'll be making more than that you could be making less
than that but that just really depends on where you work & if you have further training such as
certification in CT or MRI you can make even more money #24 besides this job what other job would
you want to do? well I love this job & I don't plan to do anything else if I had to say something
I would probably go with going to more schools to do presentations because I love to teach people
about what I've learned in radiology & it's really fun to go to the schools & bring different props
that I've saved over the years & show the students how much fun radiology can be & #25 last but not
least what classes do you need in college to become an x-ray tech & how hard are they? well
you guys know about the prerequisites those basic core classes the radiology program itself that
is probably the hardest part of schooling because you start to focus more on the specifics of what's
going on in x-ray that x-ray tube you see behind me when you're in the rad tech program you have
to learn everything about it you have to learn exactly what's happening inside of there how is
an x-ray being created how is the machine set up about the electronics so you have to learn
about that aspect of the job & then you also have to learn about patient care so you learn
about how to how to take care of patients & how to position them for these exams so during the
radiology program itself that's when it gets tricky...it's a little hard but like
I mentioned earlier the actual job itself is very simple & you have to be able to work hard through
college get your degree & if you want to have this kind of great job where you look forward to coming
into work you get paid well you have to be willing to pay your dues so that is all we have for today
25 questions that's done so um if you guys have any more questions please you guys can contact
me here's my information & as I'm ending this video I wanted to do one final thing I recently
got this um it's actually a magic skull ring & the instructions said that it has some sort of
magical property you just have to put the ring on & then snap your fingers so let's see what happens