Profile

I live in London, but am originally from the country. I love dogs and pizza. I can play the piano, and I also enjoy watching rubbish tv (don’t tell anyone!). I didn’t know I wanted to be a radiographer initially, and I did a Biology degree first. I then couldn’t decide what I wanted to do so I went to uni again (!) to study radiography and have never looked back. I love my job.

Radiographers are responsible for any imaging in the hospital which includes x-rays, CT scans (often seen on tv) and ultrasound scans (including how you scan babies).

My specific area is Interventional Radiology which is a cross between an operating theatre and an x-ray room. I have had extra training, so I now do some of the operations like a doctor would. We use the x-rays to guide what we’re doing in the operation.

I have  to wear scrubs all day, which are like pyjamas! And because we are using x-rays we have to wear a protective lead gown which is pretty heavy!

Radiographers have to be good at chatting to patients to make sure they are relaxed and understand what is happening. They also have to understand the physics of the x-ray machine as well as the biology and anatomy of the human body (especially the bones!).

My days vary quite a bit!

Some days involve taking x-rays. For this, we will receive a form from the doctor or nurse which explains why the patient needs the x-ray. I will check the form makes sense and then ask the patient to come through. Different parts of the body need different x-rays so you have to ask the patient to lie or stand in different positions to take the x-ray. It’s normally quite quick but sometimes can be challenging.

Some days I do admin – which is basically a lot of checking emails, doing some research or audits (where we check the data and make sure it matches other hospitals) and have some meetings.

Some days I do teaching which can be to other staff in my hospital, or to students who are learning radiography.

Other days it is my job to do the operations and those days I have to get to work pretty early, make sure I have a coffee (this is important to lots of people who work in hospitals!) and then I look up my patients and make sure I know what they need to have and their medical history. We then have the team brief where we make sure we have everything we need. Then just before the operation I will scrub which involves washing my hands 3 times with a strong soap and put on a sterile gown and gloves. This makes sure there are no bugs going to get on the patient. I have a pedal on the floor which controls the x-rays and there is another radiographer that moves the machine around. Once I’ve finished then it’s time to finish off the day with some paperwork!