October Clinical Experience

It has been three weeks since my last post. I have spent about 30 more hours doing clinicals. I have only seen a few cases with contrast because the hours I am spending in clinic are hours that the radiologists are not there, which means we do not give contrast. I am hopeful in the next few weeks to get more time seeing contrasts exams.

Knees are still the most popular exam I have seen. I have also scanned a few more cervical spines. I saw a patient with severe scoliosis and degenerative disc disease. It is amazing to me how the position of the kidneys and other organs are dependent on the shape of the spine. This patient had a curvature to the right at the level of her kidneys. The coronal images showed the kidneys, which sat at a similar angle to the curve of the spine. I also saw a femur and several ankles. I am having a hard time determining if the ordering doctor really wants an ankle or a foot, and what position the patient should be placed in for which part is being scanned. I am hopeful that with experience I will become more comfortable with it.

I saw a scan of an elbow that was in a cast. The patients arm was bend and casted at a 90 degree angle. The typical coil used is a flex coil, but because of the position on the elbow the tech used the small shoulder coil. The images were surprisingly crisp. I assumed that a cast would create an artifact like it does on an x-ray, but it did not.

I still have quite a few hours to spend in MRI this semester. I am hopefully to continue absorbing knowledge.