Medical Imaging Through Healthcare

MEDICAL IMAGING THROUGH HEALTHCARE 1

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MEDICAL IMAGING THROUGH HEALTHCARE

Medical Imaging Through Healthcare
Your Name
Houston Community College
EDUC 1300
February 2, 2018

Medical Imagining Through Healthcare
When we come to think of it, choosing a career is by far one of the most difficult decisions an adult can make. For some, that decision is chosen for them, whether it’s a business that’s being passed down or through the influence of others around them. Up until my senior year of high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That was until I took an anatomy class and a class called Independent Study Mentorship (ISM). In ISM, we were required to find a career of interest and a professional in the field who you would “shadow” once a week for the entire year. I knew I was good at math so the career I chose was accounting. For many reasons, such as finding it quite boring, I quickly realized that this wasn’t the career for me. In my anatomy class, however, I found a passion in the health industry. It was by far the most difficult class I’ve enrolled in however; it has also been the most exciting class I’ve ever taken. I remember looking forward to the class, even when studying for exams, as I would challenge myself to get above a 95. Since then, I knew I had found my passion in health. Through several hours of research, the career I am most interested in is Radiology. When I took The Clifton Strengths Assessment for Students, my top trait was a relator, which means I excel in developing relationships and I am able to make people realize how much I care about them. My other four strengths were arranger, meaning I am very organized, deliberative, meaning I anticipate obstacles and am a good decision maker, responsibility, meaning I take ownership of my actions and am committed to my values, and lastly consistency, which means I make a strong point to treat everyone equally and thrive under routine behavior (Clifton, 2019). I believe all of my traits make me the perfect candidate for my career choice because they confirm that I am responsible enough to work in the medical field and will be skilled at anticipating the next step. Being organized is very helpful in any career path as well and will only serve to enhance my other qualities. I also believe my last trait of consistency might be the most important; treating everyone with the same level of care is the only way to ensure the best results for everyone who walks through those hospital doors, which ultimately leads to the most lives saved.

Job Responsibilities

A Radiologist is a medical professional who specializes in medical imaging to make a diagnosis. A radiologist main job responsibility is to comprehend and interpret diagnostic imagining which may include; CT scans (Computed tomography), MRI’s (Magnetic resonance imaging), and ultrasounds (Career Coach, 2018). The main function of a CT scan is to create a 3-D image through the use of x-rays. An MRI, however, uses magnetic fields to create a more detailed image that shows soft tissue, joint, tendons and ligaments. Ultrasounds use sound waves to view the internal structure/organs inside of the body (WebMD, 2018). According to Occupational Outlook Handbook (2018), the expected employment growth rate between 2016-2026 is 13%, Occupational Outlook Handbook (2018), the expected employment growth rate between 2016-2026 is 13%, and the median wage of a physician is equal to or greater than $208,000 per year.

Education

To become a radiologist, not only will you need several years of education, but it also takes several years of practice. According to Occupational Outlook Handbook (2018), your first step is to acquire a bachelor’s degree from a university. This bachelor’s degree doesn’t necessarily have to be health related. You just have to make sure you take the prerequisites the medical school requires. During your last 2 years of college, you should begin studying for the MCAT, which is an exam you have to take to apply to medical school. Medical school consist of a total of 4 years in which the first two years you will be mostly learning from lecture, while the last two you will begin medical rotations. After medical school, you will need to take 4 years of radiology residence and finally a 1-2 years fellowship (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2018).

Lifestyle

The lifestyle I intend to live is one that’ll allow me to support my future family. I plan on having 1-2 children and according to Texas Reality Check (2016), it’ll cost about $2,162 every month to support them. Because I plan on having a family, I plan to live in a home that’ll cost about $1,285 a month. Some necessary expenses include: utilities, food, transportation, clothing, health care, and student debt. These overall expenses come out to about $2,429 a month. Which leaves personal care, entertainment, miscellaneous, and savings, and that comes out to $672 a month. In full, my monthly expenses come out to $6,548, which gives me a total of $98,220 annual expenses. The national annual salary of a physician is about $208,000 so because of this, I should have enough money to maintain the lifestyle I plan on living. The remaining balance will go towards an emergency fund, retirement savings, college fund and vacation.

Expected Expenses

When comparing the annual salary needed to maintain my future lifestyle, I was taken back by the cost difference required to live in different parts of the US. For example, in Houston TX, I need about $100,000 a year. According to Cable News Network (2018), to live in San Antonio, TX I need about $90,000 to maintain the same lifestyle. This is due to the 1% decrease in groceries, 26% decrease in housing, 21% decrease in utilities, 5% decrease in transportation, and 3% decrease in healthcare. I chose San Antonio because before I moved to Houston, I lived in San Antonio and I really enjoyed living there. However, if I wanted to live in San Diego, CA, because of the beautiful beaches and scenery, the cost of living dramatically increases to about $150,000. This is due to the 32% increase in groceries, 127% increase in housing, 6% increase in utilities, 26% increase in transportation, and 17% increase in healthcare. I have a lot of my family living in New York so I was curious to see how much it would cost me to live in Manhattan, NY. It would take about $250,000 to live in New York. It absolutely blew my mind to see that just the housing difference from Houston to New York increases by 372%! Other contributing factors included the 59% increase in groceries, 33% increase in transportation, and 26% increase in healthcare. It was shocking to see how the cost of living is so dependent on your geographic location.

Volunteering

Because I plan on pursuing a medical profession, volunteering is a lot easier to find than other professions. When I looked on VolunteerMatch (2018), I found over 91 opportunities near Katy, TX. A majority only required skills on relationship building, customer service, and community outreach. The three that stood out to me the most were: Aromatherapy Program for hospice patients, BINGO with patients of disabilities at Vita-Living, and the Hospice plus internship, externship, and practicum. Although I think Volunteer Match is very helpful, I think it’s more beneficial to go to the nearest hospital to you and ask about volunteer opportunities. Because you are face to face with the medical professions, it shows that you are genuinely interested in not only learning more about the medical professions but also that you’re interested in helping out the community. Strong medical school applicants also have several hours of volunteer work on their resumes.

Long-term Goals

My long-term career goal is to become a medical professional, but more specifically a Radiologist by 2032. It’ll take me a total of about 14 years to become a radiologist in which I will be around 32. In order to make this dream into a reality, I will need to work very hard. The first step I need to take is to complete college with an excellent GPA. The second step is to study a lot for the MCAT and be accepted into medical school. The last step is to work hard in med. school and maintain a high GPA to become a competitive applicant for residency. Once all of these steps are complete, I should be well on my way to becoming a radiologist. Now I completely understand that life may not always go the way we plan, and I need to understand that it will not be easy. But if this is something that makes me happy, then I will work hard and in the end my efforts will all be worth it. Some obstacles I may find myself having to overcome may include time management issues, distractions, and procrastination. To overcome these obstacles, I must remember my goals and surround myself with positive people who support me. My life will be everything I’ve pictured it to be when I not only enjoy my job but also get to come home to my beautiful family.

References
Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor. (2018). Occupational

outlook handbook: Physicians and surgeons. Retrieved from
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physicians-and-surgeons.htm
Cable News Network. (2018). Cost of living: How far will my salary go in another city? Retrieved from https://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/index.html
Career Coach, Houston Community College. (2018). Career coach: Radiologist. Retrieved from https://hccs.emsicc.com/careers/radiologist?region=Houston-The%20Woodlands- Sugar%20Land,%20TX&radius=
Labor Market and Career Information Department of Texas Workforce Commission. (2016). Texas realty check. Retrieved from https://texasrealitycheck.com/
VolunteerMatch. (2018). VolunteerMatch: Health related. Retrieved from https://www.volunteermatch.org/
WebMD. (2018). WebMD. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/